


The Flowing Current--The Current Runs Deep

by SyoshoHiataki



Series: Oceans Rise and Fall [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Subnautica Fusion, Feral Behavior, Feral Kakashi Hatake, Fuuinjutsu, Gen, I just ran away with world building, Listen I need Naruto riding back into Konoha with Leviathan Class Monsters as his summons, M/M, Ray made this AU, Rebuilt Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Siren Lore, Spirits of the Ocean, Tattooed Kakashi Hatake, The Uzumaki were also Sirens, Uzu is the Sea Goddess we Love, Uzuoshiogakure is Atlantis, Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Whirpool Calls Them Home, Worldbuilding, meet me in the pit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23417983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyoshoHiataki/pseuds/SyoshoHiataki
Summary: Uzuoshiogakure was built on rumors. The world outside never knew of its blue blue waters and soft pink sands; never knew what sort of creatures hid in the depths. Those who answer the Call Home rediscover what Uzuoshiogakure was really about.This is a gift for RayShippouUchiha and the fact that she makes fantastic AUs. I just had a need and ran away with it. Forgive me.
Relationships: Hoshigaki Kisame/Umino Iruka, Tenten/Yamanaka Ino
Series: Oceans Rise and Fall [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741399
Comments: 414
Kudos: 735





	1. The Sprial Down Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RayShippouUchiha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayShippouUchiha/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Prince Of Leaves And Deep Water](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485717) by [RayShippouUchiha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayShippouUchiha/pseuds/RayShippouUchiha). 



> Listen, Listen. This. This had, HAS been bugging me for weeks. I need Naruto and Kisame to basically be living in their world's version of Atlantis and no one can stop me. If anyone wants to know how the waters off the coast of Uzuo are, just youtube the Safe Shallows of Subnautica okay...... Ray. I love your Whirpool Calls Him Home AU and well, I had this come to me as I was knitting. Please enjoy this!!!

Kisame didn’t know how to react, aside from pure shock. He had finally, _finally_ made it home. To the pink sands, the blue blue _blue_ waters. What he truly wasn’t expecting was the personification of the eye of a hurricane. Bright smile that hid a turmoil of chaos behind eyes that matched the blue waters of home. He followed the small child deeper into the lush wilderness that was on the other side of the soft pink sands, wondering where they were going. The boy, Naruto, had a light spring in his step as he led the taller male deeper and deeper into the strange wood. Kisame had to bite back a chuckle as the boy let out a laugh as he hopped over some dead logs. 

Naruto turned around, walking backwards with a large grin on his face, “So, Kisame,” the boy begins, “you were a shinobi?”

That was expected. “I was. You weren’t.”

At that the young boy laughed, “No. No I wasn’t.”

Even though the boy was laughing, Kisame knew. While Naruto was clearly not a shinobi, he was still sharp. It showed how he walked, how he moved. He was sharp and pointy in ways a child should not be. They continued on their little path until Naruto stopped. He gave the blue skinned man a look. “How are you with heights?”

That was not expected. Kisame blinked before going, “Decent enough why?”

Here Naruto simply spread his arms out and went “Welcome Home.”

Confused, Kisame looked past the boy only to feel his jaw drop at the sight. Past the tree line, Kisame could see the blue sky to match the water of the ~~ocean~~ home. He stepped out of the trees and had to stare. A giant gorge that was circular, having large and steep cliffs that matched the pink sands of the beach. What really made Kisame stare in wonder was not only how deep the cavern was, but the seemingly floating buildings that descended and rose around and into the cavern. Twisting earthen bridges spread across the top, connecting beautiful buildings together. Kisame ran to the edge and looked down, watching how the buildings spiraled down deeper into the hole, disappearing under the clear blue waters. A laugh from beside him made Kisame look up. 

Naruto grinned, “Yeah I had the same face when I saw home for the first time. Come on! I gotta show you around!”

The next thing Kisame saw, which promptly gave him a heart attack, was Naruto pitching himself off the cliff. The boy twisted in midair, his feet hitting one of the bridges below before using the wet ground to slide down it further. Almost as if he was surfing along them. Grinning just as broadly, Kisame decided to join in. He took a single step off the edge, letting gravity take him away. A laugh bubbled out of him like a wave. One he couldn’t stop. Kisame hit the same bridge Naruto did, using his chakra to slide him down faster. Lowering his body, he slid along the rails, jumping over arches and using his skills from being a shinobi to sling himself around. The two of the laughed, playing an impromptu game of tag. Eventually, the bridges hit the water and Kisame dove in after Naruto when the boy lept into the water. Kisame swam after the boy, watching as he rushed into a large opening on the side of what looked like a temple. Kisame felt his face widen as a large smile came over it. He watched with wide eyes as Naruto hit the strange barrier that covered the opening and seemed to...jump to the floor of the temple. Kisame followed, hitting the barrier and seemed to fall in the air. He rolled the landing, turning around to look at the amazing sight.

The wall and barrier acted as both a door and a window. Beautiful colored fish swam lazily by, all the while staying on one side of the barrier. Kisame moved closer to see that the barrier was really an amazing feat of sealing. He had to wonder for a moment on the absolute genius that was this seal when he heard Naruto call out, “That’s not even the best part!”

Turning around, Kisame saw the last Uzumaki grinning at him from the other end of the room. “Come on!” he called out.

A wave of joy and excitement came forth and Kisame jumped up, giving his new…..friend a chance to squeal. The boy turned on his heels, running down a hallway. Kisame gave chase, laughter echoing off the beautiful decorated walls of the temple. Naruto ducked down a hallway and slammed his back into a strange looking corridor. Kisame had no choice but to stop, lest he squish the child against the wall. Naruto grinned up at him only to have his hand come up. It glowed as he filled it with chakra and placed his hand against a strange seal on the wall. As soon as the seal glowed, Kisame yelped for gravity seemed to stop working. Naruto let out a whoop, the now glowing seals that crept up the walls giving the boy an ethereal glow. Kisame watched with wide eyes as Naruto kicked off the wall and proceeded to float upwards. 

Naruto did a lazy flip in the air. “Come on!” With that he kicked off, going up as if he was flying. Kisame had to let out a laugh, following the boy up and couldn’t help but wonder what other amazing secrets their home held…..


	2. Song of the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto discovers something about himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um.....I honestly couldn't help myself. If we have Uzushio being Atlantis then by the fucking gods I can have the Uzumaki being merfolk in a way. Fucking FIGHT ME. If you wish to know how Naruto's song goes it's this. Just mix these two together and there ya go.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQlKrvXWuA  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubZhS-0l4wk
> 
> Yeah you're welcome

The smell of salt in the air was perhaps one thing Naruto would never get tired of. He was currently floating in the water off the main beach, Kisame going off to dive in what Naruto called “The Deep Dark Deep Down” that was the Eye of Uzu. Naruto began to hum, some random little tune that he just knew. His hair floated along with him in the clear waters, random fish coming up to investigate before darting off to be fishy fish. He closed his eyes, letting his limbs float him along in the current as the hum came slowly out of him, much like that of a slow building breeze. The song was wordless, mostly made up of sighs and hums. He let his fingers trail in the water, making swirling designs. As he continued to float along, singing his song, Naruto let his head sink back further into the water. He continued to sing, lazily doing a backflip to let his ~~tail~~ legs flip in the water. 

Naruto let his arms drift along to the tune only he knew as he swam. Slow barrel rolls, swirling movements, lazy drifts that he straightened himself up with flicks of his tail. He let a smile roll across his face, watching small bubbles float up to the surface. He lets himself sink and float in accordance to his song, letting the fauna that was of his home swirl with him. Claws ran along coral banks, fins banking across the rolling sands. Naruto rolled over once more, letting the song within him build up to a crest and with a powerful flick of his tail, he rushed towards the surface and he let out a beautiful wail as he broke through the water. He floated there, letting his arms keep his torso out of the water as he watched the sun glisten high in the air.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto looked down at himself only to freeze at the sight. Where his legs should have been was a thick and large tail. It wasn’t like that of any creature he knew of. While granted, the fish and the wildlife in Uzu’s waters was _strange_ compared to what was near the shinobi lands (Kisame’s words) this...this was nothing like Naruto knew. He flicked his tail to get a better view of it and was floored on what he could see and feel. Growing down from his waist just a bit where he knew his hip bones were, two long and red ventral fins slid down and ended right where his knees should have been. He flicked his eyes over his shoulder to see coming out of his spine around where his ass used to be was a bony looking caudal fin that matched the same color as the fins on his front. He flicked his tail up to get a better look at the end of it, seeing the strange wide fork of it have the webbing of it be the same red color.

The tail itself, however, was by far the strangest part to him. It wasn’t scaly like a fish. Not at all. Instead it felt more like his skin. If it was a faint bluish grey color. He nearly freaked out when he finally saw his hands. Red webbing connected his fingers together, black claws emerging out of his fingertips. The blue grey skin crept up his arm and ended about halfway up his forearm. He slowly ran his fingers over his arm, sending chills down his spine as he investigated his new thing of his. He very nearly had a heart attack when Kisame called out to him from the beach.

Turning, Naruto called back to his friend and looked back down at himself only to blink. The tail was gone and his hands were normal. Figuring he had way too much sun, Naruto began to swim back to shore. As he got out of the water, Naruto looked back towards it and wondered if he could bring the tail back for it truly didn’t feel like a strange hallucination. Instead, it felt like something was trying to click back into place in his soul…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen I did wayyy to much fucking research on fish anatomy and if you can tell what kind of tail Naruto has well, congrats you get a cookie


	3. Welcome Home to the Icy Waters, Dolphins and Monsters of the Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I added more people to the ever growing family. I have given thoughts onto why they are showing up and is going through many more on who will show up. If they do

The warmth of the sun was causing Naruto to drift off from where he was sunning himself on the beach. The waves slowly lapped at his toes as they crashed upon the shore. Nearby, Kisame was slowly floating in the water, absorbing the sun’s rays off the blue blue blue water. The blond boy let out a soft hum as he shifted further into the warm sand. Something within made him turn his head and crack his eyes open. He let a soft smile roll across his face as two people walked toward him. One was a shirtless man who had bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face and a pair of worn pants. What Naruto really noticed was the huge sword strapped to the man’s back on top of the fact that he was barefoot. His companion was a younger male, or at least male looking, who wore a soft green haori that had a very ragged looking belt. Soft grey pants that ended at the knees finished their look. 

Naruto pushed himself up as the two came closer. A grin came over the blond’s face as they stopped, both giving off wary looks. Naruto grinned at them, “Hey. Welcome home.”

The man stared at him before giving a gruff, “Thanks. Nice to be home I guess.”

The kid next to him gave a small giggle. “I’m Haku.”

“Naruto. She called you too?”

That got them to startle. “She?”

“Yeah. She. Uzu.”

The three of them turned to see Kisame coming out of the water, shaking the salt out of his hair. The new man stiffened but his partner went, “Uzu?”

“Yeah,” Kisame started, looking in the direction of home, “She is the one who has called to us. The one who helped me find home. After all,” he gave a sharp teeth filled smirk, “sharks don’t live in the mist.”

Haku’s eyes widened and turned in the direction Kisame was staring at. “Wonder why she called to me then.”

Naruto came up to bump his shoulder against Haku’s. “What is your ability shinobi-san?”

Haku blinked in surprise before muttering, “Ice. I’m very cold.”

Kisame nodded, coming up to lead them to the city they called home. “Icy waters of the deep. Sounds about right. Ever been in deep water? Gets fucking freezing.”

Haku began to follow him, leaving Naruto and the other standing on the beach. Naruto turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. The man gave a long sigh, “Zabuza. Known as the Demon of the Mist.”

“Ah,” Naruto said, beginning to walk backwards. “You’ll fit right in.”

Zabuza began to follow him, “How so?”

A very sinister smile came over Naruto. “Don’t you know? Monsters and demons lurk in the cold icy waters of the Deep.”

Zabuza had to blink at that, going to follow the maelstrom deeper into his home….

~~~~

Naruto slowly turned, feeling his tail flick out to steady him as he gripped his spear in hand. It was his turn to go out fishing, Kisame taking their newest members of their family into the Deep Dark Deep Down to see what wonders they could be in the ice cold waters. Naruto decided to try and play more with his...alternative form. He had played with it a few times since the first time he did it. He learned he could shift between this and his “human” self with ease now. Naruto grinned to himself as he remembered the first time he shifted in front of Kisame. The shark man had been swimming alongside Naruto, both of them doing a silly race under the water. Needless to say, it had been hilarious when Kisame had turned to look at his baby brother only to run head first into a giant coral tube in shock.

Naruto rolled over in the water, flicking his hand out to steady himself only to freeze at the sight above him. Standing on the water was a man. He was slightly disoriented looking due to the water so Naruto slowly pushed himself up and popped his head out of the water, blinking away the water. The other man blinked back at him, his brown eyes going wide.

“Hi.” Naruto started, aware of his very sharp teeth gleaming in the light.

The man stared. “Hi?” he answered back.

Naruto brought his spear out of the water, pointing towards home. “You were called home?”

“I was. I guess?” 

A nod from the blond child. “Cool. Wanna race to the shore? Bet I can beat you.”

That startled a laugh out of him. His ragged clothes looked familiar to Naruto but he shrugged it away. The man grinned, moving so he placed his hands on his knees to get closer. “Loser is a rotten egg. I’m Iruka.”

Naruto gave him a very cheeky smile, running his tongue over his teeth. “Naruto. And you’re on!”

Iruka gave another laugh before hopping onto the balls of his feet and taking off at a run. Naruto cried out before diving back under the water, laughing trailing behind him like the tide. Powerful and strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. i have more to come but here you go for now


	4. To the Sands they Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, *shuffles nervously* I was writing a bit between some other characters when Gaara popped into my head. He needed to come home too. After all, Sands do make up the warm beaches of their home

The stars seemed to giggle as they twinkled in the dark sea of the night sky. The sun had set some time ago, taking the scalding heat with it. The cold of the night began to seep into the desert that Gaara should have called home. Instead, the boy was staring up at the night sky, the demon within his mind roaring out for blood in a painful tempo. Gaara laid on his back on the roof of his father’s home, where he in all honesty should call home. But there is something within him that cannot. He lets his eyes drift into the abyss of the night, homesickness swelling in him like a wave. He folded his hands and pressed them against his chest, directly over his heart. He had heard from strangers, visitors from other villages that he ran across during his meanderings that his eyes were the same color as sea foam. 

Gaara wished to see what they meant but sadly, at the age of seven, he had never left the village. He wanted to know what the ocean was like, a dream he had always grasped at and hidden close to his heart. The boy longed for it, almost as if it was home. He started at the thought. Of going home. For the first time since he was very small, a sob came from his chest. Gaara felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes and fall down, curving down his cheek to pool in his ears. “I wanna go home.” he whispered to the darkness, as if admitting the worst secret.

Then, like a rush that he imagined a tide would feel like, a soft voice brushed into his mind.

_“Then come home little one. Come home to the warm sands that will harbor you. Come my little one. Return home. We miss you. We are waiting for you. Come home, my little love.”_

Gaara let out a gasping sob, his fingers now curling into his shirt. The soft voice rolled over him and he could see it, in his mind’s eye. He could see himself laying on a soft beach, with _pink pink_ sands that retained the warmth of the golden sun. He could feel the soft pull of the _blue blue_ waters tugging the sand out from underneath his legs and feet; could feel the water gently lapping at his ankles. Gaara could even taste the salt in the air as the smooth breeze teased his hair. Fresh tears welled out of him as he imagined being home. 

_Come home my little love. Come home._

Gaara opened his eyes, not realizing he closed them. He stared out into the night, the stars gleaming back at him. He tightened his grip on his shirt as he came to the notion of leaving. Of going home. He slowly let go of the fabric that was straining in his grasp. The boy blinked away tears, eyes as green as the foam of the home he longed for going wide. Gaara sat up, turning to look in a seemingly random direction.

_Yes little one. Come home. Come be with us. We miss you. Leave these harsh sands and come home._

Gaara’s mouth opened with a soft “Oh.” It neve occured to the boy to leave. Now? Now he could see being home. Playing in the soft sands with the golden sun smiling at him. At the cool waters lapping at his toes. The beautiful fish swimming around him. The monsters of the deep didn’t seem scary to him. It was the monsters of the land, the monsters that roamed around in human skin that scared him more. He slowly stood, looking out into the distance and he nodded, a determined look coating his face. Mind made up, Gaara slipped back into the house below.

He quickly went to the front closet and as quietly as he could, dug out a pack that he could carry. He then hurried to the kitchen to grab as many provisions as he could. Ration bars, bottles of water and non perishables were thrown into the bag. He made sure not to over pack for he wanted to move as fast as he could. After he deemed he had enough, Gaara slipped the pack into a shoulder before moving to his bedroom. He threw open the closet and rotted around, digging out a few extra shirts and pants. He stopped at one point, eyes falling onto the gourd of sand that loomed from where it rested against the wall. Gaara stared at it for what seemed like forever.

The gourd almost seemed to glare at him, judging him for wanting to leave. Scowling, Gaara didn’t want this sand. He hated it. The dark color of it, the hard feel of it, the coarseness of it on his skin. Letting out a quiet snarl, Gaara forced the sand off his skin and into the gourd. He shook out as much sand from his clothes as he could, using his abilities to force it away. He didn’t want this sand. This sand that was harsh and cruel like this place. No. Gaara wanted the soft pink sands of home. He wanted that sand to wrap around him, protect him. Determined, he then hefted his pack onto his shoulders and decided to make one last stop before leaving. As quietly as he could, Gaara snuck down the hall to his father’s study. Never before had the child been thankful of the demon in his head for it was nearly three in the morning, making it so his so called father was deep in his bed asleep.

Gaara tip toed over to the desk, creaking open one of the drawers that held what he knew to be spare money. He knew which drawer it was for he witnessed his father open this particular one whenever his older sister Temari begged for an allowance. Opening it, he had to grin at the sight of the money purse sitting innocently at the bottom of it. Nodding once, he reached in and grasped the bag. He shuffled to place it into a pocket of his pack. He didn’t even dare to check how much was in it for he knew he needed just enough to get what he couldn’t steal. Gaara quietly closed the drawer and slipped back out of the house.

Ducking into a shadow of an alley, Gaara began making his way out of the village. Finally, _finally_ , he was going home. But as he was making his daring escape from the village that birthed him, he never noticed how the being within him was silent. Deep within the young boy’s mind, Shukaku watched as what seemed to be like a tsunami roared through his cage. The demon sat there, watching as waters filled with legends he had only heard of rushed around in the boy’s mind. Instead of panicking like any other being should have done, Shukaku merely watched with wide eyes. “So,” he started, watching the water grow and the dry desert that used to make up the boy’s mindscape slowly transform into a beautiful coast, “it seems the legends speak true. The waves of the Worthy shall wipe away those who have harmed the Ones of the Deep. Didn’t think you of all spirits would tap the boy.”

A soft but dark chuckle rang through the bars of his cage. A wave crashed against the metal and in the foam of the wave, a woman appeared. Shukaku stared at her, knowing who she was. Eyes as blue as the waters she claimed, hair as dark as the deep with skin tanned from the golden sun. She smiled at him, voice as rich as the waves when she spoke, “You know better than I that humans are fickle little things. But what they all fail to see is that Nature,” her grin turned dark, teeth elongating to fit a monster of the deep, “Nature overcomes and endures. We will always be here. When the tide recedes, it does not mean the ocean is gone. It means that it will return. Stronger.”

The Spirit of Uzu gently grasped one of the bars that made up Shukaku’s cage. “The ocean endures and overcomes what man tries to keep at bay. They don’t deserve these children of eddies and tides. Of sands and sun. These children, these souls are of my own. Really,” here she looked up at the towering demon, eyes gleaming with the looming rage only an ocean can have.

“They should have known better than to try and cage the Ocean.”

Shukaku watched as Uzu herself turned and left, gently trailing her hands through the waters that now gently crashed against his cage. Shukaku let out a laugh, settling back to watch as the night sky twinkle against the cool waters. The ancient demon settled down, a dark grin covering his face. “Really now,” he said to himself, “the humans should have known better. After all, the boy’s mother’s mother did come from the Deep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually never intended Gaara of all people to be coming home to Uzushio but here we are *waves arms out* the kid needs to be safe and loved. Come @me later. For now I'm going to go cry over this sweet bean


	5. Lullaby of the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to this song(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_LApFnTfP8) on YouTube (IDK HOW it came into my feed) and I knew. KNEW it had to make it's way into this fic. I love this song and may have been listening to it on repeat for the past three hours. It fits so goddamn well. I don't own it. Please support the original Artist Fialeja!!!

The gentle sounds of waves crashing against the shore was something that would never get old. Not to Naruto. He was laying on a blanket on the beach, his new brother Gaara laying next to him. The two boys spent the entire day playing in the surf, daring each other to go into the reef caves and just having fun. Gaara’s skin was slowly becoming darker from the warmth of the sun’s rays and the deep bags under his eyes were fading with each day. Zabuza had taken to their newest addition to the family with good grace. He and Kisame had nearly come to blows on who got to teach the boy. 

Naruto sighed as he stretched out, toes curling before he flopped back down. The sun had set some time ago, leaving the boys to point out star shapes in the sky and make up random stories about them. Gaara was drifting off to sleep when the two of them heard humming. They stiffened for a moment before realizing who it was. They relaxed as a new form came to sit on their blanket. They rolled over so their heads were resting in the lap of Her.

Uzu ran her fingers through their hair, slowly undoing the knots that had formed from their day in the water. She smiled down at the children, letting her voice grow as the lullaby she hummed turned fully into a song.

_“Cruel and Cold like Winds on the Sea; Will you ever return to Me?”  
“Hear my Voice, Sing with the Tide; My Love will never Die.”_

Naruto pressed his cheek into the meat of her thigh, letting her warmth radiate into his own. Gaara sighed, nuzzling closer to her and reaching out to tangle his fingers into the loose fabric that made up Naruto’s over shirt.

_“Over waves and Deep in the Blue; I will give up my Heart for You”  
“Ten long Years I’ll wait to go by; My Love will never Die.”_

Then, the lullaby grew, as if the swelling of the tide joined in, the boys continued to lay there, listening to her sing. Uzu looked out towards the sea, her eyes growing darker as her emotions grew. Over their heads, the stars began to twinkle out as storm clouds came forth. Dark thunder clouds filled with rage and sorrow unfurled over the sky so suddenly it was as if the Sea called them.

_“Come my Love, be One with the Sea; Rule with Me for Eternity.”  
“Drown all Dreams so mercilessly and leave their Souls to Me.”_

The boys pressed closer, Naruto letting out a humm to join in while Gaara opened his eyes to look up at Uzu. She continued to run her fingers through their hair as her mind delved into memories of those who nearly destroyed her.

_“Play the Song You sang long ago; And wherever the Storm may blow,”  
“You will find the Key to my Heart; We’ll never be apart.”_

The storm raged, thick torrents of rain came down. The boys didn’t notice for they were safe with Uzu, the storm raging around them betrayed her emotions. The ocean itself looked black as waves crashed against the shore. Wind snapped any loose tree, the waters below roaring with pain.

_“Wild and Strong You can’t be Contained; Never Bound nor ever Chained,”  
“Wounds You caused will never mend; And You will never End!”_

Uzu cried out the last word, agony and desolation came pouring forth. As she let out a gasp, the storm faded out, as if it was never there. Uzu looked down at the boys resting in her lap, two shades of ocean gazing up with so much love in their eyes. The Goddess of the Sea smiled sadly at her children. Fresh tears dripped down her face as she moved closer to them.

_“Cruel and Cold like Winds on the Sea; Will you ever return to Me?”  
“Hear my Voice sing with the Tide; Our Love will Never Die.”_

The storm faded with the last word of the lullaby, Uzu pressing a gentle kiss onto the head of each of her Sons. Naruto smiled up at her before settling down with Gaara. The two young boys slowly falling asleep under the protective gaze of Her. She sighed, looking up to the stars.

“I swear to you children”, she murmured, “No one, and I mean **NO ONE** shall ever hurt you again.”

Uzu moved her gaze West, her eyes hardening to show the hurricane within them. “I dare them to try. They got away with it once. Never again.”

She continued to trail her fingers through their hair as she slowly turned into the breeze, Blessing her Children to be Hers. She returned to Her Waters, turning back to see the children resting fully under Her Skies. A soft smile came over her face when she saw the adults rushing to the resting boys, clearly confused but protective of them. A giggle bubbled out of her as she watched Kisame wake the boys, going over them to make sure they were okay. One of them turned to stare at where she was standing on the waters.

Brown eyes of her sweet Iruka widened, jaw dropping. Uzu never really met the adults. Not really. She loved playing with her Children though and Iruka was one of the Children. A tinny voice in the back of her head claimed they were all children, given how Ancient she was. Uzu ignored it. Instead, the Goddess simply waved at her cute little dolphin, joy swirling in her like a tide pool. He went to smack Kisame to look but when Kisame turned around, uzu had already faded into the waters. 

She moved to walk on the bottom of the ocean, trailing her hair behind her to blend with the current. Uzu continued forward, moving to the depths of Her Waters to see who else could answer her Call Home…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I honestly was not expecting to have Uzu be this way. She kinds took a life of her own as I write. Guess that is what happens when you write about something as fickle as the sea. If you want an idea of what she looks like, I'm basing her looks of a mix of Tia Dalma from Pirates and Eris from Sinbad. So yeah enjoy more of Uzu for she will def be showing up more and more
> 
> and As for the Konoha crew.....well...things will be fine. For now


	6. Till my Kingdom Comes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some world building that doesn't revolve around the kiddos. This is going to tie in things I swear!!

Kisame rolled the senbon around in his mouth, letting the metal clink against his rather sharp teeth. He had made a little office up in the tallest temple of Uzu, the one that was placed next to the broad cliff that had a spectacular view of the swirling village and the cavern below. Sometimes, if it got dark enough, Kisame would enter in this office and stare at the waters below, watching as “Ghostie” aka what Naruto affectionately called the insanely huge (and quite horrifying) [creature](https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Ghost_Leviathan) swim near the surface only to dip back down to the icy depths. He stood by the large window, his dark eyes looking down at the magnificent village he had now called _home_. He glanced up at the sound of the door opening to reveal Iruka, the shorter male having a tray with steaming cups of tea on it. Warm brown eyes softened as Iruka entered the room. He gently placed the tray on the desk and took the cups in hand. Kisame moved so he could reach out and grasp one from the shorter male’s hold. With the other he took the senbon out of his mouth to place it behind his ear.

“Thank you.” Kisame said as he took a sip from the cup.

Iruka smiled at him, causing Kisame’s heart to warm in a way he hadn’t felt in years. “It’s no problem. Now,” here the brown haired man leaned against the window, “what did you manage to find?”

Kisame grunted, “Some good things. Been going through the paperwork. Found a lot of their trade plans and which towns were in the trade agreements. Found some records of what their main exports were.”

Iruak let out a hum, taking a sip of tea. “So, when do you want me to go back to Konoha?”

That got Kisame to look at him in surprise. “Iruka. You’ve been here for a week. And I know for a goddamn fact that it takes a good two weeks to get here on foot. Haven’t they realized you’ve defected?”

Here the young man gave a smile that was borderline feral and bloody, “Oh no. I’ve been on vacation. Turned out I had a lot saved up and I took it, figured I would find whatever it was that was slowly driving me East. Never expected to find home.”

Kisame gave a nod and a look of agreement. “That’s fair I suppose. Which leads back to what do you mean?”

“Well,” Iruka gave a tap against the tea cup, “Konoha and Uzushio were allies in the past. I knew that much, what with the council making me be a new teacher at their Academy. Had to learn what treadies we had and such for the kids to learn but never brush up on.”

Iruka took another another sip of tea, “Which begs the fucking quesiton of why did they not send aid when Uzushio was destroyed.”

Kisame gritted his teeth, “I know that Kiri had helped in the destruction.”

“Yes but Kiri alone couldn’t destroy this place. Nor the people.” Iruka protested, moving back to the desk to flick some papers on it, “I know legends and rumors say that the people of Uzushio returned to the sea from which birthed them but I honestly don’t know what that even means.”

The blue skinned man came up, rubbing a hand on the back of the other’s neck, “I think it has something to do with that fishy form of the kid’s.”

Iruka let his eyes flutter shut, leaning forward enough for the warm calloused hand to scratch at his hairline. “Hmmm, you think it might be more than a myth?”

Kisame moved to stand next to Iruka, digging his fingernails into the salt tinged brown hair. “In this world anything is possible. But I’m more concerned with why Kiri and Kumo wanted to do away with Uzushio.”

Here Iruka let out a huff. “Uzushio was known for legendary seal masters, shinobi so in tune with water jutsus it seemed like they didn’t need hand signs. Hell there are rumors that they were water spirits.”

The blue haired man rolled his eyes, “Tales like that get embellished by civilians who don’t know what they are witnessing.”

Iruka gave him a look. “And yet we were called here by Her.”

That got the bigger man to quiet down. None of them knew who she even was. Just a voice. One as soft as the waves outside and yet, they could still feel the power within. Zabuza was on the theory that they were called by the Spirit of Uzu. Kisame agreed, giving something to the voice that still floated in his dreams felt less like a coward’s way out. Instead, it felt more like by naming her as such, he didn’t feel as crazy. Saying he followed the whims of a Spirit than say a random voice in his head was not going to get him shipped off to the nearest nut house. Iruka shook his head, “Look, you stay here. Do more research. Do what you must in order to get Uzushio flourishing again. I’m going to go back to Konoha.”

“For what purpose do you have for going back there?”

A smile that bordered on a sneer came over Iruka’s features. “Spying. Konoha has done some shady shit in the past, given the world we live in what Village hasn’t. But some things aren’t adding up. My father’s people came from here. My father was not but a child when Uzushio was brought to ruin. I intend to find out why Konoha didn’t aid our people.”

The shorter man rolled onto his toes, pressing a kiss to Kisame’s cheek. “I’ll be back. This is my home but I have to get information for us. If it means bringing ruin to Konoha then I’ll gladly sit back and watch.”

Kisame wrapped an arm around the other’s waist, pulling him close. “Wasn’t Konoha kind to you? Unlike the kid and the others, you don’t have a reason to hate your original village.”

“None that you see.” Iruka began, resting his head on the broad chest. “They were kind to me in the wrong ways. My parents perished in the wake of the Kyuubi attack, but even before then you could feel there was something off. My mother was of Konoha born. But my father?” Amber eyes raised to meet dark blue, almost black ones.

“My father was of Uzushio. He would tell me stories of this place. How he and his cousins would play in the sands. Watch the fishermen sail across the waters. He told me legends and fairy tales of how the Spirit of the Ocean fell in love with a mortal man. How the Leviathans of the Deep would protect those in need. I don’t want those from before to be forgotten to the sands of time. I don’t want Konoha to erase them from history.”

Kisame let out a soft sigh and rested his chin on top of Iruka’s head, inhaling the scent of salt, metal and the uniqueness that made up Iruka. “Just be safe.”

Iruka gave a hum. “I’m always safe. Stay here and do what you must to get Uzushio back on its feet. And remember,” here he pulled away just enough to make eye contact, “we are not a village. Not anymore.”

Kisame gave a rather bloodlust smirk. “We are to be a kingdom I know love. The first time in a long time since our world has seen a kingdom like this.”

Iruka let out a rather heavy chuckle, slowly moving the cups behind him to be out of the way. He jumped up onto the desk, using his legs to tug Kisame behind the ankles. “A kingdom like ours. How do you feel about being the first king?”

A groan left the blue skinned man as he let himself be pulled forward. “We all know I’m just taking this spot until the kid is of age. He is the rightful King of this place. Not me.”

Iruka hummed, leaning up to cuddle close to the taller man. “We know this Kisame. So do what you can to make it so his Kingdom stands strong.”

The two of them sat there for a bit longer, just absorbing each other for they knew Iruka was going back to Konoha. Not to return to be the good little soldier. No. It was time they learned what happened when you try to water a Great Tree with the Waters of the Sea….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, Kisame is going to be the First King of Uzushio in Centuries and even then, he is just a place holder until Naruto reaches a decent age. He doesn't want to be King but will take that tile until his little baby ball of Sunshine is ready to take it. Also, Iruka/Kisame ship sailing? In my fic?? Not as crazy as it seems. Honestly that was NOT MY INTENTION!!!


	7. A Dift in the Years: Time Skip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hi. Yeah three updates in the span of 24 hours is not a surprise for me. Honestly I really wasn't expecting this fic to go the way it has been. Surprise? But yeah I'm throwing in a time skip to make it a bit more...interesting. When Naruto found Uzushio he was around 6, almost 7 years old. Kisame was about ehhh 23 when he arrived. Zabuza was about 19/20. Haku was 10. Gaara is the same age as Naruto. In this time skip it's been about ehhhhhhhh 11/12 years. It's time for the peace that Konoha and the rest of the Big Villages to come to an end.....

Years slowly rolled by, not unlike the tide. Kisame became King, slowly building their little home back up. He dug out treaties, made trades with nearby islands. Zabuza had a hell of a good time helping out Wave Country, doing away with the budding Gato and the Daimyo who allowed such things to happen in the name of greed. More people answered the Call Home. Kisame wasn’t surprised when Tsunade of the Sannin and her apprentice arrived with Gaara swinging between them. The man however, did have a heart attack when Naruto came ashore one day with Orochimaru of all people holding his hand. Haku was the one who came home one day with Utakata, the two of them going a mile a minute of some topic. Slowly, the city hidden away by the depths was coming alive once more. A harbor had been made on the east side of the island, a lively port being thrown together. A road leading to the harbor to the main city had been made, Kisame making sure to use the wood from the trees to make boats and piers. Fishermen came around to trade different kinds with them, hoping to see the spiraling city.

Iruka had become their best spy in Konoha, always managing to return home for decent times and it got even easier once Naruto and Orochimaru delved into the Seal Vaults. Zabuza had somehow wound up being their head of the military force, making sure everyone in their small but close kingdom could defend themselves. Tsunade had a beautiful time reopening the hospital and she still denied it to this day but when Gaara asked if he could learn how to do what she did, Tsunade broke down into happy tears. Shizune took up the mantle of teaching the kids how to NOT be feral little gremlins. 

Kisame sat up on one of the two mountains that protected their growing home, looking down on the Eye with warmth in his chest. He hadn’t been King long. Hell all he really did was start up trade, clear out some old buildings and make it more into a safe home for wayward people than anything. He looked at this tiny kingdom of the waves, wondering when exactly he went from powerhouse jonin trying to do good for his village to King of a new kingdom.

“Well, the view sure is nice here isn’t it?”

Kisame froze at the sound of a new voice. He never heard footsteps approaching, so he was tense on that he didn’t pick up whoever came close. He turned to look, only….he felt like he was frozen. Standing next to him was a rather tall woman. Her hair was as dark as the Depths below, pulled back from her face by what looked like pearls. Her skin was kissed by the sun, a nice deep bronze that showed off the rather beautiful swirling white tattoos that crawled up her arms and legs. He couldn’t see her face but he knew, her eyes were as blue as the waters of his home. He faintly registered that she wasn’t wearing anything but he honestly wasn’t perturbed by that. Instead, Kisame stared at Uzu, the Goddess of the Sea.

Kisame knew it was her for she was exactly how the boys described her. Her murals on the temples didn’t do her justice because she was truly beautiful. Kisame swallowed hard, hoping to wet his suddenly parched throat. “Y-Yeah. It is. I come up here sometimes to get away from politics and whatnot.”

She giggles, it ringing out like a gentle caress of the breeze. “The rulers of Old did the same thing. Come here. Was one of the best spots they said, to see their home. To look out past their limited view.”

Uzu kept her gaze pointed down at the spiraling city below. “It’s funny, how humans think. So small and yet not. You keep certain things in your neat little boxes but so creative in how you break free of them.”

Kisame was about to attempt to stand when Uzu glanced at him from the corner of her eye, making him stop. She sat down next to him, curling her form against his. “I’m glad.” she said, flicking a small rock off the cliff side.

Confused, the First King asked, “For what?”

A laugh as sharp as the wind came forth. Uzu tilted her head to look at him, her dark curls falling over her shoulders not unlike the waves and current. “For you my little shark.”

“Me? I haven’t really done anything,” he started only to stop as she laughed again.

Uzu moved to rest her head against his shoulders. “So you think. You brought this place together. Sharks are usually singular hunters. Predators of the waters. Not really something people see as a grouping. I called to you at first to protect my little prince of eddies and tides, only to have something more. You became his big brother then, his protector. You turned this land of ruins into a kingdom of renewal. Like the spiral it was named after, it will always continue on.”

The man once known as the Bloody Shark of the Mist stared at her. “You really didn’t plan on this happening?”

Uzu shook her head, pulling a hand up to draw little shapes in the sandy dirt. “No. You really made it your own. You saw something here, something that the ones of Old did as well. You wanted it to grow and so, you made it happen. Once our little Prince becomes that age you want him to, make sure he is ready. I’m not just speaking for your human politics and what it means to be King.”

She turned to look at him fully, her eyes holding a storm within. “Make sure he is strong. He is the Maelstrom. He is one of my Blessed. Naruto Uzumaki is of my Blood and will continue on. Do not let the Roots of that Dying Tree bind him to the ground. He is not of the Earth, the Stones nor the Sky. He is not of those of the Land. Naruto, my little Prince of Eddies and Tides, is of **ME**. He is of the Sea, of the Depths Below. You are all of me. You didn’t belong in the Mist of Blood Kisame. Iruka doesn’t belong to the Forest of Lies. Gaara doesn’t belong to the Desert of Ruin. My Seas need their sharks, their dolphins, their icy waters, their sea slugs and sea snakes. They need the sands to play with, to grow. The monsters of my Deep are not there just to be Monsters. They are also predators and protectors.”

Uzu stood, her eyes growing darker as the storm clouds that thundered on the horizon. “You are my Children Kisame. Protect them and they will protect you. This is not just some little ninja village anymore. No, this is the Kingdom of the Sea. The Kingdom of the Tides that will change the world. Stand fast, my little shark. You are the First King, the Shark of the Waters. Protect what is yours and make it better, make it safer for those who will come behind you.”

The Goddess looked out, over the island and out to the ocean beyond. Her voice hardened, harsh like a hurricane. “They will come for us once again only, this time I will not let the Trees lie to me. I should have protected them from the Clouds and the Mist. They will not hurt us. My children were nearly wiped out once. I **_refuse_** to let it happen again.”

Kisame watched as she faded from view, as if she was becoming one with the wind. “Protect what is _ours_ my little shark. Protect _us_ from those who wish us harm. Protect our _home_. Protect it my little _King_.”

Kisame stood, looking down and all the doubt he had clouding the back of his mind vanished. Instead, he looked down at the sprawling and spiraling city, their lights blinking into the night like stars. With a sharp grin, he spoke out. “I will protect them o’mother of Mine. I will protect this Kingdom of Tides and Monsters. For we were known once. We will again, this time not as spectacular shinobi. No,” here he jumped off the cliff, aiming for the deep waters of the Eye below, “We will be known for our Monsters and our Storms. We are the Children of Uzu and no one will take us!”

As he fell, Kisame let out a laugh. This was a feeling he hadn’t felt. Not in a truly long time. Pure, unadulterated freedom. He was no longer missing something. Kisame had everything he needed. Right here in this kingdom he and his family had built. Laughter trailed behind him like salt on the waves. He drew closer and he swelled his chakra to help soften the dive. He hit the water, huge walls of water crashing against the walls of the Eye and the buildings that were built into it. He dove deeper, letting his body mold into the sharky form that he always had. He felt his gills gouge deeper into his neck, fins sprouting from his spine. His feet melded into his tail, flicking out in a powerful thrust. Kisame dove deeper, swimming past the glowing temples and their green sealed walls. 

Deeper he went, going past the blood kelp that grew on the craggy outcrops. He swam past the strange but powerful crab squids that screamed of lightning. Kisame went as deep as he could, seeing the so-called Lost Rivers made up of alkaline brine. The eeries green reflected up at him, the Ghostrays wails sending chills down his spine. Kisame floated there, letting the waters cool him down and he looked up to see one of the juvenile Ghost Leviathans screech past. Looking up, Kisame couldn’t see Uzushio anymore but as he simply floated there, in this strange but amazing place, he swore. He swore that never again would Uzushio be taken away. The Clouds and the Mist tried their best to cover the truth of what the Leaves of the Forest did. But no more. Now? Now it was time. After all, there is never enough time to deal with a hurricane. And Konoha wasn’t prepared for the Category 5 Hurricane that was coming their way….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope no one is surprised on who all has shown up. I'm going to have true members of the Kingdom be little cameos of others from different anime/mangas show up as little cameos. Mainly for shits and giggles but it will help the plot move a little bit faster since, SURPRISE!!! there is a fucking plot. AKA Fixing what Kishimoto broke. Canon we don't know her


	8. Cherry Blossoms bloom only for the Sleeping Wolves Below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is when we flash over to the Konoha Crew for a hot bit. Did some world building in terms of flashes of memories so like, don't be surprised on things. I also did age up the characters because I do plan on eventual smut? At some point? So yeah. Enjoy this yall
> 
> Also, the song that inspired this chapter is Wolf Totem by The HU

Sun littered through the canopy of the trees, dotting their path with little sunbeams. Sakura Haruno glanced at her sensei as she followed him deeper into the woods. She had been a part of Team Asuma for a while, doing her best to become a good kunoichi. The pink haired teen bit back a sigh, going back and thinking about what led her to this moment. Here she was, nearly twenty-one years old and honestly Sakura was glad she was in the shinobi corps. Granted, it somewhat grated on her nerves that she and her team were still Genin but with how Konoha had their system set up it was good in the long run. Her mind drifted into how Konoha’s system had changed.

It happened during her first year of the Academy. The Hokage and Grand Council announced that they were changing the age of graduation, making it so they were in the Academy longer. She graduated when she was sixteen, the same as the rest. What they also changed was that the final two years were focused on taking on D Rank missions, learning how to make reports and (according to what Iruka-san said) to see which teams were actually compatible. It also made others focus more on mental health. The Hokage also stated that Genin must remain with their team for Four Years, training and slowly gain experience. They were not allowed to enter into the Chunin Exams until they hit their four year mark. Unless extreme circumstances were involved or you were a medic nin, the Genin were stuck.

From what Sakura has heard, many of the other villages had thought it was more of a joke on how long Konoha was having people be in the Academy and then as a Genin for. But, Sakura’s thoughts rolled in the statistics of life spans on the average compared to each of the major villages. Konoha was in the lead for having better and higher chances of not just success, but survivability. Did it sting that there were chunin that were younger than her? A little bit. But it did bring Sakura comfort that she knew that in the long run, she would live longer in her career than some others.

She was brought out of her musings and thoughts by Asuma-sensei stopping. She, Sasuke and Kiba stopped as well, the three of them wondering why they were going deep into the woods towards one of the abandoned training grounds. Asuma turned towards them, his entire body screaming he was unsettled. “Alright listen. We are going to Training Field 7. You are to never come here alone. If at all. The only reason we are here is because Sasuke needs some help on his Sharingan. I know shit for dick about it so we are going to ask the only guy in the village for help. He is…..tempermental at best. Which leads to this.”

Here Asuma glared at Sasuke. “You are going to keep your fucking mouth shut or so help me I will finish what Itachi started.”

Sasuke gave his own glare, crossing his arms. “Who are we going to speak to then?”

Asuma sighed, placing his hands on his hips before looking skyward. “His name is Kakashi Hatake and he is without a doubt one of the top Jonin in the Village. However,” his eyes flickered back to his students, “Kakashi Hatake is not someone you do not cross. Ever. He is perhaps one of the few in history to retire from being an ANBU captain that was not related to death. They took him out of ANBU, why I can’t tell you.”

Asuma pulled out his cigarettes, looking more and more anxious. “Mainly because I don’t know.”

That got the Genin to look at him with wide eyes. Asuma lit one of his anti-murder sticks and inhaled deeply. “Kakashi Hatake is one of the best shinobi to ever come out of Konoha. Hell probably The Best out of my generation. The man has always completed his mission, kept his teams alive and above all else, done a lot in the name of our village. That’s the catch though.”

Sakura frowned slightly, “What do you mean Sensei?”

A deep bone rattling sigh came from the older man. “Probably around 13 or 14 years ago SOMETHING made Hatake-san snap. Usually when a shinobi goes off the deep end they wind up in three different categories. Insanely powerful serial killer,” Asuma sent a look to Sasuke, who merely ground his teeth, “Goes into a vegetable state or turns into a crazy paranoid bastard who winds up killing themselves or their team while on a mission. Hatake-san did not go down any of those routes.”

The genin stared in horrified silence. Asuma continued on, “Instead the man went fucking feral.”

It was at this Kiba who let out a “Oh holy fuck. You don’t mean we are going to go see THE Feral Wolf of Konoha?!”

Sasuke gave his teammate a look of confusion, “Who?”

Kiba made an offended sound, “I never knew his true name. Mom and some of my cousins called him The Feral Wolf. He is a loner, unpredictable and above all else, barely human.”

Asuma took another deep drag on his cigarette, “That’s honestly the best way to describe him. In the years I’ve known him, Hatake-san barely has spoken. The most I’ve heard him speak was when I came in the tail end of a screaming match between him and the Grand Council. In fact it was about if he would be your sensei.”

Sakura blinked as she and the two males straightened in surprise. “Seriously? But what changed? What made them change to you being our sensei?”

Asuma exhaled, a large cloud of smoke coming out of him much like a dragon. “Aside from the fact that Hatake-san is barely functioning? He is perhaps one of the few shinobi that the Gran Council truly fucking hates. Hatake-san is a double edged sword to them.”

“Really? Why?” Sakura asked, wondering why this is the first time she’s heard about this.

Their sensei rubbed the back of his head, closing his eyes as he tried to explain it. “Hatake-san isn’t really loyal to Konoha. Not anymore at least. Don’t get me wrong,” he looked up to the wide eyes of his students, “He has people he cares about and is loyal to. Hell I’m surprised Gai has kept him from going off the deep end for so long.”

Kiba was the one who spoke next, surprising the rest of his team. “Which is why the Council hates him? At least the Grand Council?”

“The Grand Council does hate him. He isn’t loyal to any one of them, he tolerates the Clan Council and from what I’ve witnessed first hand, actually hates my father.”

That….was not what any of them expected. Sakura brought her hand up to chew on her thumbnail, a thinking habit Asuma never did break of hers. “They hate him but given that he is clearly a powerhouse makes them wary.”

Sasuke spoke up next, “Then why don’t they kill him or send him on a suicide mission?”

Asuma snorted, “What, you don’t think they would have by now? Listen kid Hatake-san is a bit of a loose cannon that goes without saying but he is tied to us.”

Kiba rocked on his heels. “The Feral Wolf is known. Like a big name. S Class Shinobi. From what I’ve heard Mom say about him is that he scares off a lot of our enemies by just showing up in their general area. He’s probably the main reason why Iwa hasn’t made a straight shot for us.”

“It’s not just reputation alone Kiba-kun,” Asuma said, “While yes he is a big name and one that can back up said name but also what does it say about us? Our village if we straight up killed him for existing?”

“That we are weak.” Sasuke stated, crossing his arms over his chest to glare at the ground. “That we grew fearful of just one of our own that we had to put him down is a huge sign of weakness to some of the other major villages and enemies we have.”

Sakura took a step forward, “Also it takes away a key player in our deck. We don’t have a lot of Jonin, especially since the Hokage and others changed our system several years ago. The biggest numbers that make up our forces are Chuunin. Granted Genin are a close second but given that we don’t have many Jonin running around, killing him off is a bad call.”

Kiba folded his arms to pillow them behind his head, “On top of that he is fucking insanely strong from what the rumors say. To be honest I don’t know of anyone who can beat him in terms of raw power alone.”

“Kiba’s right.” Asuma flicked the butt of his cigarette to the ground, grinding it under the heel of his sandal. “Only one person in the village can keep up with him and that’s Gai. He’s trained almost the entirety of our ANBU and keeps getting stronger with each passing day. The man is a legend in his own right. If we could get rid of him without consequences then someone should have. But there isn’t. Honestly I think the man would laugh at any attempt to kill him before utterly destroying whoever was sent after him. Then going onto the people who hired the poor sod.”

“Hence another reason why they can’t get rid of him,” Sakura finished, all but ripping her thumbnail to the quick. “Reputation, his and ours outweigh the cons. Probability of actually succeeding are minimal to none. Keeping those he likes alive seems to be the only thing they can do to control him and even then that isn’t going to be the best way to deal with him. Which leads me to this question Sensei: Why the fuck are we going to see him?!”

Asuma rubbed his forehead, “Because like it or not the man has experience with the Sharingan and we need his help. I’m bringing the three of you along to help make sure I don’t get absolutely murdered. Which leads me back to what I was saying earlier.”

The older man gave a rather dark glare to Sasuke, who had to stare in surprise. “You,” Asuma pointed at him, “are not going to say a goddamn word. Stand there and try to look pretty.”

And with that the Jonin turned around to lead them into Training Ground Seven. Sakura took in the clearing, her green eyes tracking the signs of shinobi that littered the area. Deep fissures and scorch marks spread out, clearly marking where jutsus had torn through the ground. Sakura didn’t see any kunai laying about which made her nervous. Any shinobi worth their salt never left behind anything if they could help it. No abandoned weapons means that the Jonin was armored and armored well. Sakura’s eyes took in as much as she could before coming to a stop just behind her sensei, Sasuke coming into rest on her right. Kiba flanked them, Akamaru tucked behind him as much as he could.

Asuma gave out a nervous chuckle and a small wave. “H-Hey there Hatake-san.”

Sakura followed his line of sight and froze. A few feet away in a rather ragged looking tree was the shinobi that they were seeking. The man had silver hair, looking rather rough. He had a band of black cloth going over his left eye, acting as both an eyepatch and a headband to keep his hair out of his eyes. His lone eye that was showing was slate grey and was focused on them with the intent unlike a predator. 

He wore a face mask that rested just on the edge of his nose and it melded down into his sleeveless black shirt. Sakura’s eyes widened at the sight of the rather beautiful tattoo that scrolled down his right arm, starting at his shoulder and winding down it. It depicted a large wolf, made up of twisting knots and dark colors. The wolf’s mouth was open, the large maw seeming to engulf the sun that was on his shoulder. The tattoo disappeared under his arm guard that began at the crease of his elbow. His pants were dark, wrapped with black bandaged at the ends and his own black sandals completed the look. Strapped across his chest was a tanto blade and peeking from his corded thighs were kunai pouches. Sakura gulped as The Feral Wolf shifted his hold on the branch above him, his sharp claws scraping the bark.

“Asuma. You never seek me out.” Kakashi Hatake drawled, leaning slightly forward.

Asuma gave out another nervous chuckle. “Y-Yeah. See, I came here to, ah, ask for a favor.”

The Genin watched as Kakashi hopped off his branch, landing quietly. The silver haired man remained hunched over as he began to, well, prowl closer. “A favor? Of me?” he growled out, his voice rough from clear disuse. 

Sakura watched as her sensei gulp down some air, “Just a tiny one. One that shouldn’t take up any of your time actually.”

Kakashi moved closer, standing in front of Asuma and he let out a low growl. “You wish for me to help you with the Uchiha. You know of my answer on any dealings with that clan.”

Sakura saw from the corner of her eye Sasuke’s glare and he opened his mouth to speak. The pink haired woman did the only thing she could think of. Her arm whipped out and wrapped around Sasuke’s head, shoving his mouth into the crook of her elbow. He let out a grunt of surprise and it caused both Jonin to turn to look at her. So, in her panic, Sakura spoke.

“Actually we are here for me.”

Asuma’s brown eyes widened in fear as Kakashi’s grey one stared at her. “You?” the man asked, not in accusing but more in confusion.

Sakura nodded, tightening her grip on her teammate’s jaw to keep it closed. “Yes sir. See I asked Asuma-sensei if he knew anyone who would be able to help me. I’m a decent kunoichi but,” here she looked to the ground, “I’m not the best one I could be.”

Green eyes rose to meet grey. “My chakra control is, according to Asuma-sensei, outstanding. I really only have one option open to me and that’s the Medic Corps. Except I don’t want to be a medic nin.”

Sakura steeled her spine, raising her head to meet the man directly in the eye. “I am not a supporter. Never have been. I’ve been trained to be with my team directly in the front lines. I’m a kunoichi yes which means more than likely I will get more honeypot missions than these two. If they get them at all. Only, look at me.”

Here she waved her free arm to gesture at herself. “I’m not….robust in terms of feminine beauty. Especially by civilian standards. The only thing that is said to be remotely attractive about me is my hair and I really can’t use that on honeypot missions. That being said,” Sakura bowed (forcing Sasuke too as well for like fuck she was letting him speak and ruin this), “Please help me become a true shinobi. For myself.”

Silence fell on the training ground and after what felt like hours, she heard a “Not to Konoha.”

“Eh?” she looked up to see Kakashi moving towards her. He stopped and squatted down to be at eye level with her given that she was still bowing at the waist. He poked her in the forehead, “You said become a shinobi for you. Not for Konoha.”

Confused, Sakura went, “I need to be a better shinobi for myself before anything or anyone else. I’m alive because I fought, trained and killed for it.”

The Feral Wolf grinned from behind his mask, his lone eye sparking with a slight crazed light. He rocked back onto his heels and a barking laugh came out. He threw his head back, laughter coming out of him like rolls of thunder. He snapped his head back forward and went, “We start tomorrow morning.”

Blinking in surprise, Sakura stood up straight. “W-what really?”

Kakashi rose as well, standing up straight and towered over her. She made a mental note that he also had a wolf tattoo on his left arm, doing a mirror of the other, except instead of eating the sun this wolf was eating the moon. The man gave her a nod. “Sunrise, here. Don’t be late.”

Ignoring the sputtering from her sensei, Sakura nodded. “Yes sir!”

Giving him another bow, Sakura began to drag Sasuke away with her. Kiba followed them after giving the Feral Wolf a nod. Asuma trailed after them, blatant shock on his face. Team Seven rushed out of the forest, towards the village proper. Sakura let Sasuke go after a bit, mostly because he flung himself out of it. They stopped right before they hit the village and Asuma whirled onto his only female student. “What in the actual FUCK was that?”

Sakura gave a sheepish smile and a shrug. “It was the only thing I could do? Sasuke was about to speak and you said for him not to. So, I improvised?”

Kiba gave a bark of laughter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Gotta give her props Asuma-sensei. Sakura has bigger balls than us combined.”

Blushing, Sakura gave him a playful glare. “Yeah well I’m not wrong. If Sasuke did manage to speak then who knows what would have happened.”

Asuma answered that one. “Dead. We all would have been very dead. Good on you Sakura for keeping your teammates alive.”

Kiba folded his hands behind his head, giving his teammate a grin. “And also good on you. You managed to become the student to the Feral Wolf. Good luck on surviving!”

The blush on her face faded as she paled. “Oh gods. What did I just do?!”

Sasuke gave a grunt and watched as the others tried to keep his pink haired teammate from falling deeper into a panic. Sasuke thought about the entire exchange. Clearly Sakura stepping up was a good move. The so called feral man didn’t seem to be all that from what Sasuke saw but it could have been a ruse. What really got on his nerves was the fact that the Hatake didn’t hesitate to take _Sakura_ on as his student. The man clearly had deep rooted something towards Sasuke’s clan. Something that was keeping him from helping Sasuke grow stronger. He scowled and wondered if he could speak to the Grand Council about this. Sasuke followed his team as they wandered into the village to start on some missions and he began to plot on how he could make Kakashi Hatake take _him_ on as a student instead of Sakura…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to recap: I accidentally made Kakashi be a mirror to Fenrir of Norse Mythos. Sakura is going to become the badass we all love her to be. Sasuke is a brat and Kiba is fed up with their shit. I have Asuma being their sense since I switched Gemna to be Team 10's. Since, ya know, Genma's sensei was Chouza so it makes sense??? The Chuunin Exams will be happening soon so stay tuned you crazy lot. As for why Kakashi isn't known as Sharringan Kakashi is because our boy be a little....crazy. He kinda went off the deep end when Naruto left the village. When Naruto left, Sarutobi had Kakashi be out on a long mission. When he returned, Naruto had been missing for about 6 months. With no leads and his only idea of what happened being Danzo did something, Kakashi kinda went....batshit. Hiruzen managed to control him by claiming if Danzo did have Naruto then they would know. The Demon within the boy would have lost its shit (Kakashi's words). But given that Hiruzen forbade Kakashi from taking care of the pup or hell, even informing him that he went missing, Kakashi swore that he was no longer loyal to Konoha. He had his "pack" mates Gai and Genma to keep him from descending fully into missing nin territory. What The Council doesn't know is that once Naruto is found, Kakashi is going to go with the boy. Never to return to Konoha.......so...yeah surprise?


	9. Ink in the Waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a chapter I've been sitting on for a while and figured it was a good time to post it.
> 
> Also, there are cameos in this chapter. Can you find them all?

The bell chimed as the door opened, causing the owner of the shop to look up from his sketchbook. A chuckle left the man as he took in his king standing in the little entryway of the shop. “Well, welcome to Scales and Ink Your Majesty.”

Kisame groaned as he moved closer to the front counter. “Please don’t call me that. I’ve had enough of that shit, at least for the day.”

A hearty laugh came out of the other man as he reached out to grasp hands with his friend. Gajeel truly couldn’t help but laugh at the bone weary sigh that escaped the blue skinned man. “Sorry sorry. So, what brings you to my humble shop?”

Kisame rested an arm on the glass countertop, looking down at the piercings that lay in the case. “I came by with an offer.”

One of Gajeel’s black eyebrows rose. “An offer? Kisame the last time you made me an offer I couldn’t refuse I wound up here.”

Kisame gave his friend a look. “Yeah well you needed it. Besides it was a good offer.”

That made Gajeel chuckle as he moved the two of them to the little seating area. “This is true and I have you to thank for it everyday.”

“Not Naruto who begged me to let you and your wife stay?”

“Oh please we all know you are wrapped around that kid’s finger. You were going to let us stay here without those big blue begging at ya.”

A grumble left the shark as the pierced man chuckled. “But you said you had an offer? What kind of offer?”

Here Kisame ran a hand through his hair. Fingers lightly catching on the knots that formed from when he took a quick dip in the waters earlier. “You know that we are different from the rest of the powerhouses on the mainland yes? Well it was decided today that we don’t want the traditional headbands. Given that we aren’t a village nor do we want to really have any ties into their bullshit.”

Gajeel nodded, “Sounds about right.”

Kisame continued on, “So, we agreed that we would like to pay you to create a special seal tattoo with the Kid and the Snake for our soldiers.”

Gajeel stared at him, his red eyes going wide. “Oh. That’s….something.”

“If you say no it is completely understandable. We won’t be upset,” Kisame began to say only to stop when Gajeel held up a hand.

The man gave his king a look, “Is there a time frame?”

Blinking in surprise, Kisame shook his head no. “You will need to converse with the kid and Orochimaru on what exactly this will all entail but you will be paid handsomely for you will be the only one who will get to tattoo this on our soldiers. And your apprentice should you ever find one.”

Gajeel gave a grunt of confirmation, sitting silently for a few minutes. Kisame shifted, showing his unease about how quiet his friend had gotten only to give a small jolt when Gajeel spoke again.

“So does this mean I get to have free reign on the design?” the black haired man asked, a smirk stretching across his face.

Giving a sigh of relief, the other man shook his head, “Now that you will definitely need to speak to the seal nuts about. I honestly don’t give a shit as long as it is recognizable and something people won’t be able to copy. And perhaps keep the words “Fuck” and “The Police” out of it?”

Gajeel laughed, throwing his head back. They stood, shaking hands and the tattoo artist moved back behind his counter to grab his sketchbook. “Give the contract to Levy. She will want to go over it with a fine tooth comb.”

A snort left the king, “You think I didn’t know that? I have Daichi heading over to her with Sugawara. The two of them have copies of the contract Tsunade, Orochimaru and I came up with. If she has any questions or concerns she knows she can send them back.”

Gajeel shook his head, chuckling all the while. “Damn you sent those two? They fucking fear Levy!”

Kisame began walking out of the tattoo shop with laughter trailing behind him. “That’s what they get for trying to hook up in the Library. Pregnant or not your wife is fucking terrifying.”

Gajeel threw a wad of paper towels after his friend who rushed to slam the door behind him. The black haired man leaned back in his chair, flipping to a blank page in his sketchbook. Reaching over, he snagged his cigarettes and lit one, inhaling deep. He dragged over his pencils and couldn’t help but mutter “Well, if this is going to be our calling card on our crew gotta make it my best piece yet.”

And with that, he began to sketch…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you found all 4 Cameos in this Chapter congrats you get snickerdoodles


	10. Trade the Forest for the Shores

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooooo are we surprised I updated this soon? No. Is the plot finally taking off? Yes. I did up the rating because there will be some fighting and idk how graphic it will get. As for any smut? I'm going to make a different fic where I'm going to have all the smutty bits. mostly because I don't wanna figure out how to move the plot around to include that. There will also be another fic that has the Adventures of Cryptid Kakashi. That one is for funsies

Iruka Umino was very _very_ bored. It was one of his off days from the Academy, which meant he was working the Missions Desk. He did his job, hand out missions, gossiped with the other Chuunin working and tried not to think of the waves of home. The thing he hated the most about being the self assigned mission of spying on Konoha was that he wasn’t home. Granted thanks to the beautiful seals Naruto and Orochimaru rediscovered and fine tuned made it easier to get in contact with his family. But that could only do so much. He missed swimming in the blue waters, eating the delicious fish and meals with his family, exploring the ruins of the Precursors. A faint blush came over his face as his thoughts turned towards his lover, Kisame. Iruka did miss him. In many different ways but currently he did miss their nights together. 

Quite frankly Iruka wanted to drag Kisame here to Konoha to scream from the rooftops, “I’M NOT A PRUDE YOU FUCKERS!!! I HAVE FUCKING STANDARDS!!!! NONE OF YOU DUMBASSES MEET THEM!!!”

Iruka’s thought drifted down to the numerous times he had to reject going out with his fellow teachers or worse yet, those hopeful enough to hook up with him. Iruka was aware of the tales about him. The rumors that he was a virgin and had taken some kind of vow. It was slightly embarrassing because he had to bite back numerous mutters of “Oh if you only knew.”

On one such occasion Mizuki tried to get Iruka to hook up with Anko, the infamous Snake Queen. Needless to say that ended badly. Mainly for the so-called wingman. Now though Iruka and Anko had nights where they would hang out and complain about the lack of decent men in the village. It was worth it to leave Anko’s apartment after a night of drinking and gossip to see the looks of sheer dumbfoundedness on his fellow teacher’s face. 

Iruka was brought out of his musing by a client approaching his desk. Throwing on his best customer smile, Iurka chirped, “Hello! How can I help you?”

The short man gave him a startled look. “Oh! Yes hello! Tell me, do you happen to have any jonin available for an escort mission?”

“Well that depends sir. How long of an escort are you requiring?”

The client came closer, joy rolling off him in waves. “A few weeks. See I’m off to form a new trade partner. Partners if I can swing it.”

Iruka smiled at him while doing a mental eye roll. “Oh how wonderful! Tell me where are you headed?”

The trader grinned, “A rather new kingdom! I hadn’t heard much about it but I have a cousin who lives down in Wave and they have been doing some rather fantastic trade with this kingdom for several years now! To be quite honest I’m a little jealous of Miyagi for it. So, I’m hoping to strike up some deals with this kingdom.”

Blinking, Iruka raised his eyebrows. “A new kingdom you say? What is the name of it? For I only know of the Kingdoms of Ice, Moon and Iron respectively.”

The trader let out a polite laugh. “It’s quite alright. I hadn’t heard of it until a few weeks ago when my cousin visited. The Kingdom of Deep Tides is just a few years old. Apparently they have been doing very well with Wave ever since they helped eliminate Gato and his ilk.”

It took everything in Iruka not to pause and panic. Instead, he gave a tilt to his head and went, “The Kingdom of Deep Tides?”

Nodding, the trader continued, “Yes. They are off the coast and between Kiri and Kumo. I aim to bring my daughter along so she can begin learning the ropes of our business. So, are there any jonin available for such a trip?”

Iruka began shuffling some sheets around, trying not to panic. Instead, he focused on the client. “Actually sir it might be cheaper for you in the long run to hire some genin with their sensei and an additional chuunin versus jonin.”

Here the brown haired man pulled out a price sheet to show him the different hiring rates. “See? You get more shinobi for the same amount as hiring three jonin. Not including travel costs and other such things. This trip might take some time I’m assuming?”

Picking up the price sheet, the merchant squinted at the numbers. “I suppose you’re right Shinobi-san. Actually,” here the man’s black eyes gleamed, “I have had dealings with some genin in the village. Tell me, are teams Gai and Genma available? I believe that’s what they were called.”

Iruka moved to his log book, flipping to the mentioned teams. “Team Gai is available as well as Genma. When were you looking to leave Merchant-san?”

Clapping his hands together, the client beamed, “Oh marvelous. I plan on leaving on Friday. Gives me some time to gather what I need as well give you shinobi some time to prepare!”

Smiling, Iruka pulled out the forms needed, “Wonderful! Here, just fill out these forms and I will take them to the Hokage. If this turns out well Merchant-san we might have more dealings with you as well. I have heard that Hokage-sama was looking for a new tobacco supplier.”

Iruka managed to bite back the vomit that wanted to bubble out at the thought of sleezing up to the Hokage but kept it contained mainly because of the rather terrifying giggle that came out of the merchant. “Perfect! Perfect! Thank you Shinobi-san!”

Iruka caught the eye of the other chuunin working the desk next to his and they shared a rather dramatic eye roll and subtle gagging motion. Iruka kept the laughter to himself. Sometimes there were little bits of joy in this spying gig. And that was bonding with others over how much they hated their jobs….

~~~~

Iruka knocked on the door, opening it at the call of “Enter!”

He entered the Hokage’s office with a small bow. He saw Teams Gai and Genma standing at attention in front of the desk of their village leader. “Hello. Forgive the intrusion but you called for me Hokage-sama?”

From behind his desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, the wrinkles in his face shifting. “Ah, Iruka-kun. Please come.”

Iruka came to stand next to the jonin-sensei, wondering why in the name of Uzu he was here. “Good, now that Iruka is here we can begin.”

Hiruzen picked up a paper off his desk and handed it to Genma. “Teams Gai and Genma along with Chuunin Umino will be sent on an escort mission.”

Jaw dropping in surprise, Iurka sputtered out, “I beg pardon Hokage-sama?”

Genma rolled the senbon in his mouth, sending a look to the younger man. “I hate to say it but I agree with the green bean over there.”

Iruka sputtered, “Green bean?” as Hiruzen held up a hand. “We have a merchant here heading to a new kingdom to hopefully start doing trade with them. He hired you specifically since you have worked with him before. Which leads me to why Iruka-kun is here. I’m going to be quite frank. Gai, Genma, you need a babysitter.”

The genin all bit back laughter as their senseis began to stammer and falter. Hiruzen looked to Iruka. “You are quite possibly one of the shinobi I trust to keep them in line and not raise as much chaos.”

Gai was the first to recover. “Is there no trust Hokage-sama?”

Hiruzen gave them a deadpan look. “Gai the last time you and Genma were on a mission together you set fire to the Capital, stole the wig of the Daimyo's brother-in-law and then proceeded to steal all of the peach wine you could find in the span of an hour.”

Iruka stared at the two blushing jonin with wide eyes. “By the waters you two are going to kill me. Provided I don’t kill you first.”

The chuunin whirled back to their leader. “But sir! I teach at the Academy! This mission could last weeks, if not months!”

Hiruzen held up a hand, pulling out another form for the younger man. “Which is why I’m fully confident in whoever you choose as your substitute. You have until the end of the day to provide one. Teams Gai and Genma,” the genin and jonin stood up straight, “you leave with the Merchant Urarahara and his daughter Karin in three days. Review everything and collect what you need. You will not be taking any missions during those days. Prepare. You are dismissed.”

All the shinobi nodded and left the office. Iruka stared down at the form in his hands. On one hand, he was thrilled and laughing like a loon over the fact that they were unintentionally sending him home. On the other, he was going to have to pick someone to watch the children. Iruka didn’t trust Mizuki. Not as far as he could throw him. The man was shady, even more so for a shinobi and no one on the “Grand” Council believed Iruka about missing students. Most were orphans (Iruka checked) and some were from minor civilian families. He tried to do some digging but alas, was unsuccessful. The only thing he had to go on was that Mizuki had the favor of Danzo. 

Iruka stopped mid step. He looked up from the form to stare at the back of Gai as the eccentric man was explaining himself to his students about the Capital debacle. There were many in the village, at least shinobi, who didn’t care for Danzo but there was one who hated the man more than any other. Kakashi Hatake aka The Feral Wolf was rumored to try and kill the man many times. Iruka had only glimpsed of the man about the village. Iruka was also guilty of spreading rumors among his students that Hatake-san would eat children who didn’t do their homework, he would wait for them in empty training fields to snatch them up. It was kinda amusing to spread rumors of the man, who was slowly but surely becoming a local cryptid. Eyes sparking, Iruka turned on his heel and began to venture into the forest. He knew there was only one place to find the man if one was seeking him and that was the abandoned training ground seven…

~~~~

The sun had begun to set as Iruka trekked into the woods, wondering if this truly was a good idea. It took every fiber of his body to not begin to mutter about how dumb he was. Iruka slowed his steps, glancing around the darkening wood. He couldn’t help the “Oh yeah sure let’s go look for the crazy ninja in the woods. Oh yeah that’s real fucking smart of you Iruka. This is why Naruto keeps laughing at you whenever you get spooked by Old Gregg.”

A dark form thumped down in front of him, causing a shriek to leave the chuunin. Hunched in front of him was the man he was seeking. Silver hair seemed to glow in the fading light and his grey eye was narrowed in him. “Who,” he snarled out, “are you?”

Iruka took a couple steps back before going, “Iruka Umino. I’m, ah, looking for Kakashi Hatake?”

The man rose from where he was resting on his ankles to stand, slowly moving closer. “Why are you looking for me?”

“Oh fuck me,” Iruka said under his breath before taking a deep breath. He stood as tall as he could and looked the other man dead in the eye. “I’m here to request a favor.”

“Hmm….many people seem to be asking me for favors as of late. Tell me,” here he began to circle Iruka, “what sort of favor are you asking me for little Umino?”

Iruka didn’t dare to move. Instead, he stared straight into the woods ahead. “I need you to sub in for me at the Academy and to find proof that my fellow teacher is kidnapping children.”

The footsteps paused. Iruka clenched his fists as Hatake slid closer, his face leaning over his shoulder. “And just what, makes you think this man is kidnapping children?”

Gulping, Iruka spoke. “It’s been over years of course but there will always be about two or three children from my classes that end up missing. Most are orphans or come from a civilian background. They usually show good promise only a few weeks later don’t show up. He always has the excuse that the students drop out or their parents just pull them out once they realize that signing your children up to be soldiers at such a young age is rather traumatizing. The only thing I can think of is that he is kidnapping these children and giving them to Danzo.”

That got the wolf’s attention. Kakashi slid around to stand fully in front of the other man. “To Danzo?”

Iruka nodded, “Yes. I believe Danzo never got rid of his Root program. That man, if you can call him that, is _vile_ ,” here he all but spat out the word. “I don’t have any concrete proof since I’m trying to keep the other children safe. I just don’t have that ability.”

Hatake looked at him, his body language unreadable. “Tell me, what would you have me do with him then if he was taking children?”

Here, Iruka smiled. One he saved for when he was at home. One he shared only with Kisame and Orochimaru as they plotted the downfall of Konoha. It was the same one that Naruto claimed made him look terrifying. “Honestly? I could care less if you killed him. I wouldn't bat an eye if you ripped his heart out. I want to find my students and I pray every day that they are alive somewhere.”

Hatake continued to stare at him. “Say I do find all this. Say that I do kill him. What then?”

Iruka tilted his head to the side, “Well, then I see we have an issue in this village and if Mizuki leads to Danzo then I fail to see where the bad side is. Two birds, one stone.”

Several quiet moments went by before Hatake spoke. His rough voice growling into the dark between them, “Alright. I’ll sub in for you. I just have one favor to ask for in return.”

Doing his best not to metl right then and there in relief, Iruka nodded, “Fair enough. What is it?”

The silver haired man moved closer, his grey eye boring into Iruka’s amber ones. “Tell me everything you know about Naruto Uzumaki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is some other cameos in this fic. Can you find them???? Also, Kakashi is going to have some fun dealing with the pups


	11. Traverse these Strange Lands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, *wrings hands together* Real life has gotten hella hectic. I work as a line cook and well, you can guess how bad it's been for me. With that, I'm going to be having less time to write (again) so, enjoy this

Shikamaru knew this was going to be the mission that drove him to insanity. He knew it for said mission was going to be _weeks_ long away from home, stuck in the middle of Spirits knew where with Ino of all people and of course, dealing with a civilian girl who was clearly trying to hook up with one of them out of spite against her father and to top it all off, Genma-sensei was clearly up to something with Gai. What exactly Shikamaru didn’t know but from what he was able to glean off his father and from what other shinobi told him, Genma and Gai alone was enough to make some go running. They were quite the chaos bringers and it was all in all very troublesome.

Sighing, the young man shifted his weight and looked at the others who would be stuck on this trip with him. Choji was in a deep debate with Rock Lee about potatoes of all things, Ino and Tenten were comparing packs and what they packed (Shikamaru was ignoring their own comparison of what was better in terms of _products_ ) and watched as Neji Hyuuga was doing his best to get that Karin girl to leave him alone. Genma and Gai, on the other hand, were talking with their client about where exactly they were going. Shikamaru’s attention was snatched when Iruka Umino finally arrived, slightly out of breath. He waved at them, “Apologies. Had to make sure my substitute was on his way.”

Gai let out a booming laugh. “Quite alright Young Iruka! Now that we are all here we can begin Our Journey!”

Shikamaru groaned, “Troublesome.” 

Neji sidled up next to the Nara heir, giving him a look of solidarity. They all began to troop out of Konoha, Urahara-san pulling out a fan and giggling behind it. “Off we go to Wave! There we shall meet up with my cousin Miyagi who will get us to Fukashio!”

Genma gave a strained smile. “Is there not a straight shot to this Fukashio?”

Urahara shook his head, hiding a frown behind his fan. “Sadly no. They do not have anything set up for direct lines from the Land of Fire. Mainly because, this is based on rumors, that Fukashio is about six or seven years young. They have a good deal with Wave given that they helped get rid of a budding crime lord and helped overthrow their Daimyo who was letting said crime lord get away with it since said crime lord was paying off the Daimyo and his court.”

Shikamaru hummed, sharing a look with Genma-sensei. What made the Konoha nin really nervous on this whole endeavor was that they couldn’t find much information about this Kingdom of the Deep Tides. Someone in their spy ring was really dropping the ball on this. Hell Konoha didn’t know about the budding crime lord until Urahara mentioned it. Needless to say, the Konoha shinobi were wary of what exactly they were going to find at Fukashio. Iruka began chatting with their client, clearly keeping the weirdness level as low as he could as well as fish out as much information he could about Fukashio.

Genma-sensei gave Shikamaru a small head tilt towards the client’s daughter, who was clearly (and badly) flirting with Neji. Letting out a low sigh, Shikamaru went over to go rescue his fellow man from the whole situation. He moved to be next to Neji, “Hey,” the Nara started, “Genma-sensei wants to talk to you about how he wants to do night watches. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Karin-san.”

Neji nodded, his posture not giving away the relief his eyes poured out. “Understood.”

Neji drifted away, trying not to rush over to where the senbon chewing man was walking along. Shikamaru managed to not shake his head. Instead, he looked over to Karin-san. “So, wanna tell me why you are actively trying to hook up with Hyuuga-san?”

The young woman scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why should I tell you?”

Here Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, “Because you’re not going to succeed. He can tell your heart isn’t truly in it and he kinda is not a fan of the female gender to begin with. Actually,” Shikamaru scratched at his scalp, “I don’t think he is interested in anyone regardless of gender.”

Karin stared at him, a blush streaming across her face. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. So,” he bumped his shoulder with hers. “Spill.”

Karin uncrossed her arms, looking towards the cloudless (a shame) sky. “It was mostly to get back at my brother and his husband.”

Blinking in surprise, Shikamaru tilted his head to the side. “Really?”

“Yeah, see,” she waved a hand towards Urahara-san, “he’s actually my brother-in-law. My birth father...well...he’s a piece of shit to sum it up. My older brother gained custody of me and my twin sister after some shit was brought to light. Ichigo did the best he could ya know.”

Karin wiped at her eyes, “Ichigo packed us up and moved us to Konoha not long after the shit with Him went down. It was on the road to Konoha that Yuzu and I found out that Urahara helped my brother and wouldn't you know it the two idiots fell in love.”

Shikamaru felt his eyes widen a bit, “Really?”

A slightly wet laugh left the woman, “I know. The two knuckleheads fell in love. It was during that whole shit show and a half that they got married. I think Yuzu was more upset that they eloped. She loves weddings ya see? Anyways, long story short while they have been building their little shop and married life, I did the stupid thing. Urahara has some friends from his past that keep showing up. One of them is this…..perfect man.”

Here her eyes looked out into the distance. “Toshiro-kun and I had plans. We have been well, together for a year now. Only my dumbass brother found out and Toshiro respects and fears him enough to “respect his wishes towards one of his sisters.” That fucker hurt me.”

Karin’s fists clenched. “He basically chose my brother over me and-and..”

“And you want to hurt him the same way he hurt you.” Shikamaru picked up, turning his head to the others, giving the woman some privacy to wipe away the tears of anger and hurt that welled up. 

Karin rubbed a knuckle under her eye, looking pointedly at the tree line. “I did. But what’s the point then. I know it’s dumb, silly and just….What else was I supposed to do?”

Here Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, giving himself a mental shake on what he was about to do. “Well, I’m no expert in this kind of stuff but why don’t you talk to these guys? You’re your own person. Ones with feelings and thoughts. Tell this Toshiro how you feel. If he does love you he will fight for it. And tell your brother to, I’m going to be blunt here, fuck off.”

That startled a laugh out of her, her eyes flicking to him. “Seriously?!”

Nodding, the shinobi motioned to where Urahara-san was in clear debate with Gai about geta of all things. “Point out his choice of spouses and collect as much blackmail as possible. Come off it, where did your brother find this man?”

Karin began laughing and moved closer to Shikamaru, bumping her shoulder with his. “You know what? I think I will. Thank you.”

Making a huff, he bumped back. “Yeah yeah don’t go around saying I’m nice or whatever.”

Shikamaru dodged a swat from her as he continued, “It would have been troublesome the whole trip if you had been trying to sleep with the team.”

He dodged her kick and gave a low whistle, “Nice form. Next time go for the knees.”

She whirled on him, a smirk sparking on her face. “How about I go for the head?”

Shikamaru was more or less saved by Lee coming over going, “Are we having a kicking contest?”

When the two of them began comparing kicking styles, Shikamaru mosied over to where Ino and Tenten were conversing. He tapped on his friend’s shoulder, making her look at him. He jabbed a thumb at where Karin was learning how to theoretically rip a man’s jaw off by Lee.

“She’s having love life issues. Wanna have a girl’s night with her and help her work through whatever it is?”

Blue eyes lighting up, Ino gave a snicker. “Of course we will. Tenten and I were discussing it. Looks like we women have to stick together. Too much testosterone.”

Tenten looped an arm around Ino’s before sticking her tongue out at Shikamaru. “Yeah! Girl time is very important.”

As the two of them began giggling with each other, Shikamaru looked to the sky. He let out a sigh and couldn’t help but wonder what he was going to be expecting on this trip….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just noticed. This fic was supposed to be about our little ball of sunshine and he's been missing for like 95% of the fic? So, my bad???


	12. The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait. Work got crazy busy. Our day shift is shit. We are getting a new menu (now in this time of Corona??) so I've had to do all the training for that. On top of that, my laptop decided to be a huggee thot and not connect to the internet for a few days until I fucking fixed it. 
> 
> **ALSO I'M ADDING A TW HERE AND WILL DOWN BELOW.** There is mentions of off screen killings and such and I don't wanna fuck up anyone's day with it so, here's a head's up.

Mizuki Torasutobureka was having a rough fucking day. First he learned his fellow teacher was being pulled for a mission that would take weeks (apparently Gai and Genma couldn’t be trusted alone) and Mizuki was then informed that Iruka picked his substitute without Mizuki’s input, so the Spirits knew who would be taking over for the man. Then, his alarm went off late so he accidentally slept in for half an hour. As he had been rushing around his apartment to get ready for work, the white haired man realized he didn’t have ANY coffee and his hot water was shut off due to something going on in his apartment complex. It was on his way to work that he also realized he didn’t eat breakfast nor did he grab his wallet. 

So, decaffeinated, grumpy, tired and thoroughly fed up with the world, Mizuki hurried towards the Academy. If he was late to work then who knows what the little crotch gremlins would get into. He did notice though, as he grew closer to the school building, a small crowd had formed in front of it to clog the entrance. Mentally sighing, he prepared to make his way though said crowd and figure out what was making it happen so early in the day. As politely as he could, the chunin wiggled and wormed his way through the crowd only to stop at the front of it. His brown eyes went wide at the sight of a spar going on in the side yard where the kids practiced their kunai skills.

Craters and deep gouges littered the area and Mizuki’s eyes tracked the bright pink hair of his former student. Sakura Haruno dodged a swipe from one Kakashi Hatake, rolling out to throw out a kick at him. The Feral Wolf grabbed at her ankle and threw her across the area, causing her to crash into one of the target posts. She hit the ground and quickly got back on her feet. A laugh escaped her as she placed a hand onto the wooden post. 

“You’re getting better.” The silver haired man commented.

She simply gave the older man a look before raising her free hand up to show off her middle finger. “Fuck off you soggy wet dog.”

Mizuki’s eyes nearly fell out of his head as she ripped the post out of the ground with one hand and flung it at Hatake. The jonin quickly jumped up and kicked the post back at her with both feet. Sakura caught it with one hand and swung with her whole body, once again throwing it at him. Hatake, still in midair, grabbed it with both hands. Sticking to it with chakra, Hatake did a flip to build up some more momentum and sent the post back at Sakura. The pink haired woman responded with rearing back a fist to punch it, shattering it on impact. She followed through it and rushed at the other. As the two of them continued to trade blows, Mizuki stood there and couldn’t help but gape.

Sakura Haruno was matching blows with THE Feral Wolf?? When Mizuki clearly remembered her days at the Academy and how she did so poorly in taijutsu that it made all of the teachers wonder if she would be okay doing missions. Yet here she was, throwing a fully grown man around like he was a sack of flour. He was brought out of his shock by a new voice going, “A'ight break it up!”

A clap from next to Mizuki startled him as Kiba Inuzuka came out of the crowd, heading straight to where the two were now wrestling on the ground. “Come on knock it off!” he called, not at all afraid to shove his hands between the two others. He clearly didn’t care that Sakura was biting Hatake’s arm nor that Hatake was pulling on her hair (no doubt to get her to let go).

Kiba managed to get Sakura to let go and threw her over his shoulder. “Come off it. You can finish sparring with him later. Asuma-sensei told me to fetch you. We have a mission so stop fucking chewing on me!”

He swatted his friend on the thigh to get her to stop biting and clawing at his neck. “I almost had him!” she pouted, shoving her elbow into his spine.

Grunting, Kiba bounced her on his shoulder. “I know but it’s mission time. The two of you can go back to wailing on each other after we do our jobs.”

Letting out a huff, Sakura crossed her arms. “Fine.” She pointed a finger at where Hatake was dusting himself off and picking spare bits of splintered wood out of his hair. “We ain’t finished!”

Hatake brushed off his arm to inspect her bite mark. “Looking forward to our spar tomorrow morning pup! Next time aim lower on the arm! Not as much muscle to go through to get to an artery.”

The language that left the pink haired woman made Mizuki blush and watch as some of the older students cover the younger's ears. _‘Too late for that’_ , the man thought, already knowing that he was going to get very angry letters from some of the parents demanding to know why their seven year old was saying “Fuck all of your stupid ass shit you ass humper!”

Hatake finished dusting himself off and called to the shrinking form of Sakura, “Yeah FUCK YOU TOO YA SHRIVLED UP HARPY!”

Shaking his head, he made his way over to where Mizuki was, the crowd now dispuring now that the fight (if you could call it that) was over. Hatake cocked his head to the side as he slouched a bit to shove his hands into the pockets of his pants. “You Mizuki?”

Blinking in surprise, the chunin gave a jerky nod. “I am.”

“Good.” Hatake said, flickering his gaze to the students staring at him. “I’m Iruka’s Sub.”

Silence. Then.

“I BEG YOUR FUCKING PARDON?!”

~~~  
Mizuki had a headache. The kind that stabbed you from behind the eyeball and just proceeded to do a dull throb that increased over the course of an hour. He stood in the front of his classroom with one Feral _FUCKING_ Shinobi all but lounging on the teacher desk. The students were staring at the man with wide eyes. Mizuki sighed and rubbed at his neck. “Alright,” he stared, gaining the attention of all 23 kids, “So, Iruka-sensei is out on a mission for the foreseeable future so we have Hatake-san here being his substitute so please be on your best behavior.”

Silence for a few blessed seconds before the students began shouting out questions.

“Where did Iruka-sensei get sent to?!”

“Are we still going to be graded on the essays we turned in?”

“Is Iruka-sensei going to rescue a princess?”

“Why did Iruka-sensei get picked? Why didn’t you go with him?”

“When will Iruka-sensei come back??”

Mizuki felt the headache slam into his skull full force and before he could yell at the brats to shut the hell up, Hatake-san just spoke. It was damn near a whisper. 

The silver haired man casually rolled from a lounge to crouching on the desk. “Enough.”

Mizuki’s black eyes widened as all of the students immediately shut up. The silence was near deafening after the onslaught of questions that had been getting louder. Hatake fluidly moved to stand instead, crossing his arms and speaking in his rough voice. 

“Umino-san was chosen to go on a diplomatic mission to a new kingdom that has formed off the coast. When he will be back I honestly do not know. As for the rest? He did say something to me about your essays being graded while he was on this mission during down time. When he gets back he’ll have them. He chose me to watch over you while he is away and I’m going to. He also said something about you lot being on your best behavior and if you’re all not? Well,”

Here Hatake uncrossed his arms and slid his hands into his pockets before leaning a bit over to give the students a strange look, “I guess my pack has some new toys to play with.”

Mizuki stared as his students stiffened and he coughed to gain their attention. “Right. Well, now with that taken care of we can begin today’s lesson. Chakra Theory. More specifically why some jutsu takes more chakra than others.”

As the lesson began, on the far side of town, a window slowly slid open. As quick as a flicker, a body slipped inside a standard one bedroom apartment. The window silently slid shut as the form quickly scratched a seal on the window sill. A seal that made it seem like there were no human signatures to anyone looking in. Or guarding the place. Kakashi Hatake slowly stood and brushed the back of his fingers against the fresh seal on his left armguard, the one Umino had carved in just this morning to help Kakashi break into the apartment of Mizuki. It hid Kakashi’s chakra signature from, well, everything. Honestly it was a rather remarkable work of art and when Kakashi said so, Umino simply laughed before saying, “Oh I didn’t create it. We simply rediscovered it and tweaked it.”

Kakashi refocused himself and began to creep through the apartment. It was a simple one bedroom plan. One that was an almost exact copy of the barren apartment Kakashi used to rest at when he wasn’t in his Den. Kakashi ignored the kitchen, eyes clocking onto the wallet that had been clearly left behind on the small table by the front door. Noting it as a potential chance of Mizuki coming back during the lunch break, Kakashi began to hurry along. The living area was rather bland. A rather remarkable ugly ass couch was against the far wall with a short coffee table in front of it. Two end tables flanked the couch and the silver haired man quickly went through them both. Odd/old receipts littered between the two of them. Some small change and an instruction booklet for a crockpot. 

Letting out an annoyed huff, Kakashi scoured the two bookcases in the living area. Theory books on chakra, jutsu and some non fiction books littered the shelves. Kakashi’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the rather scary amount of Icha Icha and Icha Icha knockoffs littered one bookcase. A faint growl escaped his throat at the smut before he made his way into the bathroom. Nothing noteworthy there except for how gross the man left the toilet. To be a bit petty, Kakashi stole all of the man’s toilet paper and toothpaste. Sealing them away into a spare scroll as he walked to the bedroom. Upon entering he felt a sneer on his face at the rather small room was mostly taken up by one of those strange Iwa style iron wrought beds. 

While he was tempted to steal his pillowcases, Kakashi did the smart thing and went over to the desk that was shoved into a corner. He flipped at the papers that littered the top of it, ignoring the papers of the students. Kakashi did, however, raise an eyebrow at the amount of bills that were past due and were needing to be paid. The man quickly scoured through them, eyebrows going up at the amount of debt Mizuki had wracked up. 

_‘So'_ , Kakashi thought as he found the man’s budget book, _‘someone has a rather bad gambling habit.’_

Inside, Kakashi found that Mizuki owed a lot of money to ALL of the most influential loan sharks in town. Kakashi kept digging. Snapping the book shut, he opened one of the desk drawers and began to shuffle the papers around. Receipts of how much debt Mizuki paid, what missions he went on, all of it not important. Instead, Kakashi found something rather dire in the bottom left drawer. 

He found a small lockbox, one that didn’t take much for him to shatter the lock. His blood ran cold then hot at the files he found. The files that were in the box were of students. Children.

Kakashi began to flip through them. They were all children at various stages. Small pictures in the top left, showing their terrified eyes and what was even more enraging, was that Kakashi knew some of this handwriting. Undersecretary Minso who worked DIRECTLY under Danzo. The first file Kakashi read showed the picture of a young boy, gold eyes set in a scowl with his black hair pulled back from his face.

_** (TW OFF SCREEN DEATH STARTS HERE SO, SKIP AHEAD ** _

_Name: Zuko Agnison_

_Code: Kindling_

_Age: 13_

_Program Status: **Terminated -** Self Sacrificed to Protect Team. Mission Failed._

Kakashi felt his rage spark in the back of his throat as he flipped to another file. This one of a young girl, brown eyes wide with fear and her pink cheeks showing a fist shaped bruise.

_Name: Ochako Uraraka_

_Code: Gravity_

_Age: 14_

_Program Status: **Terminated -** Poisoned._

The more files Kakashi flipped through, the more it took everything within him not to go back to the Academy and rip Mizuki apart limb by limb. He did notice though, that some were still alive if their dates were telling him anything. Granted, the survival rate was low. Even for Shinobi Standards. 15% of living. 85% of death. Kakashi managed to calm himself and quickly dug out the small camera Umino had loaned him. It was really different from the ones Kakashi was used to seeing around. This one was not only small, it was sleek. The camera was thin and the lens was on the back while the entire front was one screen. When Umino showed him how to use it last night, Kakashi marveled at it for a while. Apparently Umino had some connections to a rather innovative community. Kakashi snapped picture after picture of the files, making sure to keep himself out of view of the lens. 

It was about twelve files in that Kakashi noticed something. In the bottom corner of them all on the left, were some numbers. 

_1500_

_900_

_1200_

They were not in any order and some repeated. It didn’t take him long to know what they were. Price tags. Kakashi put the small camera down and grabbed Mizuki's budget book. He flipped through it and saw the pattern. When the huge deposits from the children hit his accounts to who he paid off. 

“It’s like that huh?” Kakashi snarled to himself as he felt lightning dance up his spine in rage. 

He also took pictures of the budget book, making sure the dates were fully in view. This went on for another fifteen minutes and he put everything back. After making sure nothing was out of place and he fixed the lock on the box, the wolf in man’s clothing left the tiny apartment. Once he made it back to his Den, he went to the strange device Umino had set up for him to get into contact with the ones who would help destroy Danzo.

Kakashi looked at the “tablet” Umino had gifted him that sat on the stone shelf in Kakashi’s Den. Carefully, he picked it up and swiped two fingers across the screen. It lit up with a faint light and a small pin pad appeared, floating in the air above the tablet. Kakashi slowly pressed the correct numbers, _4546_ and a new little “holoscreen” appeared.

Kakashi slowly pressed the icon of a shark and the light of the hologram turned off for a second before a new little holoscreen appeared. A slightly larger rectangle appeared in the light, a little green icon floating in the dark. A strange ringing noise came from the tablet which nearly made Kakashi throw it out of his Den. But he did not. Instead, he stared at the little screen before the ringing noise stopped. A little ding was made and the dark rectangle flashed a new light.

Kakashi blinked because in the strange holoscreen was one Kisame Hoshigaki staring at him. The shark man blinked back. Kakashi’s grey eye flicked to the background, noting the man was in some kind of office that Kakashi had never seen before in terms of style. Hoshigaki was the one to speak first.

“Can….you explain to me why you of all people are calling me?”

Kakashi tilted his head to the side, noting the missing headband from the supposed dead nin. “If you can explain calling then yes?”

Hoshigaki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay. How about who got you into contact with me and what in the name of the Sea do you want?”

This Kakashi can work with. “Umino Iruka gave me this...tablet? He, uh, wanted my help in taking down Danzo. Or rather, same end goal. We both want Danzo dead. Mutual partnership?”

Hoshigaki did not look impressed. Instead, he levelled Kakashi a bland look. “Do you mind putting him on?”

Kakashi had no idea what that meant so he said, “Can’t. He’s actually on a mission right now. Heading to some new Kingdom to babysit packmates.”

Hoshigaki jolted. “Explain.”

So, Kakashi did. After a few seconds, Hoshigaki let out a laugh. Grinning, he went, “Fucking amazing. So,” here he folded his hands in front of him and leaned a bit. “What proof did you bring of the supposed child snatcher?”

This, Kakashi, decided was going to be the beginning of the End of Danzo….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....ummmm....did anyone catch ALL three cameos I had in this chapter??? Two characters and one from Subnautica.


	13. Not So Fun in the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, I was listening the Daughter of the Sea for a FUCKING hour to write this because it just....just fit. There is also now a Pinterst Board so you can see what I think of when i write this and there's a spotify playlist that is FILLED with music that is for this fic. Links down at the end
> 
> SO with that, Let US GET THE UZU ARC FINALLY GOING

Shikamaru tugged his jacket on, wincing at the slight pull on his sunburnt skin. He grumbled to himself as he made his way out of the small cabin he was forced to share with Neji and Choji. The mission so far was going pretty well. They managed to get to Wave in a decent time (less than the supposed two weeks but then again, Urahara-san was the strangest fucking civilian) and after a few days of collecting supplies (including spending an ENTIRE day going about the rather nice marketplace) and waiting on the boat to come BACK from Fukashio, were finally on their way. Shikamaru had seen glimpses of the ocean before, on minor missions. Between patrols and protection detail but actually being on the water was….was something new.

They had pitched in on the boat, doing things they had to learn on the fly. Shikamaru, Neji, Lee and Choji were thrown to the quartermaster and assigned different jobs. Choji had won the spot of cook which honestly he was loving. Lee had somehow wound up on the job on rigging and sails. They all agreed that it was the best possible outcome. Neji had been taken to the crow’s nest and honestly, Shikamaru wasn’t jealous of the poor bastard. He was the only other one that was slowly resembling a lobster, alongside Shikamaru himself. The Nara Heir was given the wonderful task of cleaning the deck and any other chores. He made the stupid decision of taking off his jacket yesterday while scrubbing a part of the deck and while his mesh armour worked wonders against kunai and sharp implements of death, it was shit in protection against the sun.

Now his back was sunburnt with white lines criss crossing his skin. Ino had nearly laughed herself sick at the sight of it. Shikamaru finally broke out from the blissfully cool shade from the interior of the ship and had to blink at the sudden brightness from the sun. Sailors were running around doing their jobs, swinging from sail to sail, mopping the deck, basically doing everything to keep the ship sailing. Tenten and Ino were sunning themselves alongside Karin, the three girls clearly enjoying the bright cloudless sky.

Sighing at the tragic sight, Shikamaru made his way to where Gai and Genma were conversing with the Captain as he stood on the helm of his rather impressive ship. Apparently, if Shikamaru was remembering correctly, the Captain said his ship was designed and created off some of the more ancient designs from some ruins on a nearby island. To be quite honest, the Nara was rather impressed with it all. He climbed the stairs and watched as the Captain hooked an arm around one of the pegs of the wheel. “Look I’m telling ya we should be reaching shore within the next sundown. I know these waters unlike you two.”

Genma’s teeth clenched on tighter to the senbon that all but lived in his mouth. “How hard is it for you to say fucking tomorrow sir?”

Captain Suzume Jakku pointed at the other man, his hand having a tight grip on the strange green bottle in his hand. “Don’t make me throw you overboard lad. We are about to hit Their Waters and unlike you I’m actually scared of those Monsters.”

Before Shikamaru could even ask what in the fuck the man was going on about, one of the Sailors from the prow called, “CAPTAIN!!! Her Statue is approaching!!!”

Shikamaru turned to look over his shoulder to squint at the horizon. Captain Suzume laughed and called out, “Tie up the Sails BOYS! We make for Her!”

Gai sputtered out, “Wait! We are stopping?!”

Captain Suzume altered his grip on the bottle in his hand to take a swig from it before shifting the ship with the wheel. “Yep.”

Genma glared at the man, “Why? You said we would make it to Fukashio by tomorrow night!!”

A booming laugh left the Captain as he took another drink, “Aye I did lad. But you have to understand. We sailors traverse these waters and none come through this area without stopping at Her Shrine.”

Finally, Shikamaru spoke, catching the attention of the older men. “Who even is She you keep referencing??”

Captain Suzume snorted. “See this is an issue with you landlugs.”

He stepped away from the wheel and let his second in command take cover as he motioned the shinobi to follow him. The brown haired man walked (more like wobble and stumble) his way across the deck to the prow. The ladies were nearby, Ino and Tenten clearly eavesdropping. Captain Suzume continued on. He grasped a rope and lazily swung around.

“You have no respect for the Gods of Old. We are stopping to do what every respectable sailor or ones of the waters do. Pay our respects and thanks to Her. The Mother of all Waters, the Patron Goddess of the Kingdom you are in such a rush to get to.”

Captain Suzume waved his free arm to the island they were approaching. “We are visiting the Shrine of Uzu.”

Something in Shikamaru shifted, not unlike the tides they were sailing. Neji slid down from the rigging above. “Uzu? What is she the goddess of then?”

Captain Suzume scoffed as the ship drifted to the island made of volcanic rock. The gangplank slid out and hit the land with a solid thunk and Shikamaru heard the crash of the anchor hitting the water. Shikamaru followed them, eyes taking in the fact that the island, if you could call it that, was nothing more than a barren rock. It was roughly 25 feet across and was nothing more than porous volcanic rock. But what got Shikamaru’s attention was the rather tall statue in the middle of the island.

It looked like it had been carved or made straight out of the island. Or at least the same kind of stone. Long waves of hair poured down her back and flared out behind her as if caught in the breeze. Her face was beautiful but she looked rather….not fierce nor did she look angry. Instead the statue seemed rather...amused. That was the best way to describe it. Bleached white shells were placed in the waves of her hair, almost looking like stars in a moonless night. Wave-like spirals were carved into her body, travelling up her legs and arms to crash and meet on her torso and neck. They had been filled in with bronze, following each dip and curve of the waves. Brown eyes tracked them, taking note of the tiny slips of carved white stone that covered her breasts and the apex of her thighs. In her left hand, she held a beautiful glass sphere that looked like it held the heart of a hurricane within. Dark blues and angry grees swirled within, clear bubbles frozen in time. Streaks of white and gold that resembled lightning darted across the edges. The thing that got the most attention was in the center was an amber stone. Shikamaru tilted his head to the side as he flittered his eyes to her right hand.

Grasped in her right hand was a strange spear with three prongs at the top. The weapon, he remembered, was called a trident and he thought it was rather strange to have the sharp ends of the trident be made of a deep green and teal stone that seemed to ripple with the waters. The polearm was bronze with beautiful swirls embossed onto it. Dripping down from the divots of the trident was a net filled with different shells, bones and teeth of animals that came from her waters. Shikamaru’s eyes went back to her face and finally took note of the small circlet that rested on her forehead. Bronze and the green stone that made up her trident circled and dipped down from her head, beautiful blue glass beads were hanging off delicate chains. In the center of her circlet was another glass sphere that mimicked the one in her left hand.

All in all, Shikamaru saw that the artisans who made this took every scrap of their skill and trade. It was beautiful and one he committed to memory. At her feet, in a small pond were things that were no doubt offerings. Small candles that were housed in different shells littered her feet and a couple floated in the small pool. Captain Suzume approached first. Placing the green bottle at his feet, he took off his wide brimmed hat to give a rather dramatic bow. Brown dreadlocks held back by a faded red bandana slid to cover his face. “My darling Mother. I thank you for such safe travels across your Waters. In return for safe travels I bring you this.”

He stood and slipped a hand into his shirt to pull out another bottle. This one smaller than the green one at his feet. Taking a stepforward, he placed the bottle into her pool. “Glass as green as your depths. I thank you Mother O’Mine. May you continue to Bless us with Luck and Travels.”

Taking a step back, Captain Suzume looked at the Shinobi who stood a bit back. “Now it’s your turn.”

They all stared until Iruka came forward. He reached into his pouch and pulled out his trusty salt packet. He had always carried salt upon him, from helping erase his scent, tracks and for food. Iruka came to where Captain Suzume had been standing and bowed in respect at the Uzu statue. “I thank you, Mother of the Seas and all Within her Waters. I thank you for protection against those who wish to do us and my loved ones harm. In return for such protection, I give thee this.”

He ripped open his salt and poured some into her little pool. “Salt as pure as your own. May the taste of the salt breeze keep our Sails Full.”

He gave another bow before standing next to Captain Suzume. It was surprisingly enough, Gai went next. He pulled out one of his spare leg weights and carefully cut it open to take out one of the steel weights. He tucked away the slightly lighter weight and bowed to the Statue.

“I thank you, oh Youthful Uzu for keeping the skies clear and in return I gift you this.”

He placed the steel into the water, letting it hit the bottom with a faint thunk. “Steel as Strong as your Tides. May you forever stay Youthful!”

Shikamaru covered his eyes and couldn’t help but wonder if that was more of an insult than anything to the Goddess they were supposedly praying to. It continued

Genma gifted her one of his senbon, “As sharp and as direct as your winds.”

Choji some dried fish, “In honor of the food your greatly provide for us.”

Neji gave her some gold ribbon, “As rich as the waters we sail.”

Ino placed a beautiful ring into the water. “As beautiful as you.”

Lee proudly ripped off some of his green jumpsuit. “To Match your Youthful Seas.”

Tenten put in a kunai, “As true as the predators of your tides.”

Shikamaru was the last one. He reached into his pocket and tugged out the small black bag filled with glass beads he bought in Wave. He still had no idea why he bought them but he took out the glass beads. He sealed them away and went to the pool, the soft black puch in his hand. He bowed to the Statue, feeling something watching him. Instead of placing the bag in the water, something told him to gently loop the ties around her left wrist. He looked up at the statue and stared into her eyes, the ones carved with white stone and glass. “I give you this, to remember the Shadows of the Monsters that Lurk within your Depths.”

He turned around to see Iruka and Captain Suzume giving him strange looks while the rest of his team rolled their eyes at Shikamaru’s strange theatrics. The sailors went next, all of them giving the pool something that reminded them of the ocean. As they made their way back onto the Kuroshinju, something made Shikamaru turn around to stare at the statue. He could have sworn something was there but he was startled by Ino going, “SHIKA GET A MOVE ON!”

The sailors weighed anchor and dropped their sails. The wind was at their backs, helping fill their sails. They continued forth towards the Deep Tides. As they sailed on, none of them saw a figure standing next to the Statue of Uzu. A hand that matched the coloring of the bronze polearm tugged off the black pouch from the statue. Uzu ran her fingers over the smooth leather, giving a small hum. “Well,” she began and looked up to the ship. “No one has ever gifted me anything for my Monsters.”

She gave a grin, letting her waters crash upon the shore of the island. “Shikamaru Nara. I wonder if he knows that Shadows love the Deep Waters more than the Leaves of the Woods.”

Waves crashed and she faded back into her Depths…

 **~~~~**  
[spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4PPS5iLGwGTPWKL4zUeZaG) [pinterest board](https://pin.it/5vUQZwx)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um, if yall wanna do anything like fan art, add to the playlist or anything, PLEASE DO I WILL CRY IN JOY


	14. Uzu Arc: To the Lands We Roam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it is official. We are starting the Uzu Arc!!! I have been working on this for a bit and let me tell you guys, it has been a long time coming. I've had this in my head for weeks. I finally get to share it with you all.

“LAND HO!!!!”

Shikamaru looked up from where he was helping tie a knot to see one of the crewmen swinging down from the mast. The man hit the deck running and made his way to his Captain. “Land approaching Captain!!!”

Captain Suzume laughed and called out to the rest of his crew, “Prepare for shore lads!!!”

Shikamaru ignored the now scuttling crew, instead making his way to the foremast. Climbing the netted rope, he got to one of the highest points of the ship to look out ahead. On the horizon was a faint strip of grey. He let out a faint hum before glancing at the water. The bright blue of it seemed to giggle as it sparkled under the bright sun. He could faintly see the fish that swam beneath the surface and honestly, Shikamaru was glad they were almost there. If he had to spend one more day on this fucking boat he was going to scream. It surprisingly didn't take them long to reach shore. What the shinobi were not expecting to see was a very lively port town.

Their ship docked at one of the piers, the sailors tossing over ropes to moor the ship to it. Shikamaru watched with wide eyes as birds flew overhead, calling out to their brethren. Merchants and fishermen shouted and roared out over the noise of the clearly busy port. Other people had stalls filled with fish, food and products, beckoning people to come see their wares. Shikamaru was very tempted to go see what they had for sale but instead was forced below deck to go grab his pack. It didn't take long for Teams Genma and Gai with their own merchant to finally set foot on land after being on the ocean for nearly two weeks.

As he stumbled a bit onto land, one of the older sailors snickered, going "Landfolks," under his breath.

Shikamaru didn't have time to rebuttal since he had to chase after Urahara-san since the man was remarkably fast for a civilian. Karin commented about it once, saying the gays speed. Whatever that fucking meant. Shikamaru came up right as Urahara-san was speaking with a man about where to go for trading permits.

The man was huge. He towered over them all, his long shaggy black hair tied back and a deep maroon headband held any loose hairs out of his face. Long black strands with a few braids with beautiful silver beads capped the ends. The thing that made the shinobi stare was the truly impressive amount of piercings that were all over the man. Two above each eye, two on the bridge of his nose and two on his lower lip. His ears alone had five in each, making Shikamaru’s own ears throb in a phantom pain from when Ino got him drunk to get his own ears pierced. The man was wearing a short sleeved linen shirt that many of the sailors wore, the front of it open in a deep v to show off both his muscles and the impressive dragon tattoo that crawled over his chest. Shikamaru’s eyes flickered to the [tattoo](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/35/2b/86/352b86bbd255f0d4cb0652e67e0d8640.jpg) that was on his upper arm. It was a beautiful spiral that looked like it was made out of an inkbrush.

The man’s red eyes looked over Urahara with a confused look. “You wanna make trade here in Portside? Well that’s fine but you gotta get the permits of trade from the King in Kurouzu.”

Ino spoke up, moving closer and beginning to play with her hair. “Kurouzu? I thought this was Fukashio?”

The man gave her a bland look. “The island is Fukashio. This,” here he waved to the lively port and the town beyond. “Is Portside. It’s the first official town of Fukashio. The capital,” he pointed to the two towering mountains in the distance, “rests in the chasm between Mount Sera and Mount Kokuyoseki. Our capital’s name is Kurouzu. We have two other towns, Harbortown and Starboard.”

Shikamaru took note, watching from the corner of his eye as Genma actually wrote this all down. Urahara-san pulled out his fan to hide his smirk behind it. “I see. Thank you my friend! Is there anything else we should take note of?”

The man scratched the back of his head, “Well, in order to get to Kurouzu, you gotta take the Main Road, Bilge. It will lead you straight to the City. There are signs that lead you to where you need to go but in order to get to the Magistrate’s Office you gotta go right and climb the street to the highest point. It will be the largest building at the end, can’t miss it. It’s a dark blue with a Reaper Carving on it.”

Neji mouthed, “Reaper?” as Genma jotted down the directions. Urahara-san flicked his wrist to keep his fan making a small breeze for himself and dug into the pocket to pull out some coins. “Again, thank you! You’ve been a big help sir! Here, a token of my thanks!”

The man took the money, pocketing it. “Sure. If you ever need anything don’t be afraid to come on down to Scales and Ink. Ask for Gajeel or Levy.”

Urahara smiled, “Of course!! Hopefully we shall meet again!”

Ino gave him a flirty wink as they walked away and Shikamaru rolled his eyes at his old friend’s antics. She lived to get under people’s skin and flirting was a good way to judge their reactions and he had witnessed too many people being thrown off their game by her flirting with them. Genma literally had to stop her from doing it with enemy nin. Regardless of how funny it was. Shikamaru trudged behind his team, watching the lively town alongside them. Tenten pointed out different shops, voicing how amazing it was. Ino and Karin voiced they couldn’t wait for a shopping day. Gai’s eyes lit up at the different tea shops that lined the road and boardwalk of the beach. Choji all but drooled at the assortment of food stalls and restaurants. Even Shikamaru had to admit, the amazing scents coming from them were enough to make his stomach beg for attention. Neji perked up at the sight of the bookshops and cafes, clearly ready to lose his money to the variety of books they held within. Soon, they fell into the crowd heading into Kurouzu, Urahara and Genma talking to a friendly orange haired man about some sport involving a net and something called spikes. Gai chatted with an older woman, holding her groceries as they discussed tea. Ino, Tenten and Karin giggled at the sight of the shirtless men running down the road back to Portside. Choji and Lee themselves were taking in the sights of the beautiful and lush forest on their right and the quite impressive farming going on the left side.

Shikamaru folded his hands behind his head, looking up to the sun. He let the calm and soft breeze flow over him, the tang of salt rested on the back of his tongue and the breeze tugged on his hair. He noticed though, the road began to dip down, heading deeper into the island, literally. The road led to a tunnel that had a bright light at the end and it made Shikamaru slightly nervous but Neji bumped shoulders with his. The two followed their teams and clients into the tunnel, eyes following the strange green lights that were placed on little metal dais that lined the road. What really made the Konoha crew’s jaw drop was not the strange engraved metal dias that lined the road, no it was the beautiful and ornate carvings of the Monsters of the Deep (as explained by Shoyo Hinata aka the strange Tangerine kid Genma and Urahara were talking to).

Shikamaru’s head was basically on a swivel as he took in the beautiful murals. The one that made them all stop for a moment was one of a large [creature](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/subnautica/images/d/d0/Sea_Emperor_Concept_Hi_Res.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170427210925) that made all of them feel insanely small. Long front flippers grazed the edge of the wall where the road met it, and long tentacles drifted behind it’s long body. For Shadow’s Sake, one of the strange glowing blue eyes was larger than Shikamaru’s head. All in all, it was rather….humbling to see the mural. Shoyo chuckled at the gaping mouths of the Konohans.

“Yeah. That’s one of the Leviathans of the Deep.”

Ino turned her head to the orange haired boy. “Leviathans?”

Shoyo nodded, spinning the strange white ball in his hands. “You never heard of the Leviathans? Ancient Creatures that roamed the Seas, the Skies and the Lands. This is one of our Leviathans. The Sea Emperor.”

Shikamaru looked from the boy to the mural, staring into the creature’s eyes. “Sea Emperor huh? I can believe it.”

Shoyo laughed and danced on the balls of his feet, “Well, come on! Kurouzu is at the end of the tunnel and I wanna see your reactions.”

That made the Konohans laugh and begin walking again. Shikamaru gave one last look to the Emperor mural before looking at the bright light at the end. They left the tunnel and Shikamaru had to blink to get used to the light of the sun only for his jaw to drop. They now were at the capital.

Kurouzu was nothing like it’s name. The city itself had been built into the walls of the chasm, coming out at random intervals to connect to the spiraling streets and ornate bridges that criss crossed the city. Now Shikamaru knew what that Gajeel guy was talking about when he said go to the highest end point of the road. Shoyo waved them goodbye before rushing away, relatively fast for a civilian. Shikamaru followed the others, eyes taking in every bit of the city. People wandered the streets, children ran playing and laughing, merchants and traders yelling over each other. They all nearly had a collective heart attack when a group of young teens ran past, laughing and jumped off the road that overlooked the deep blue waters that the city descended into. The teens hit the water, laughing and splashing at each other for a minute before swimming down into the deeper waters.

Ino had run over to the railing after they had jumped and an older man laughed, going “Don’t worry about it. The youngsters do it to skip most of the traffic. I would too if it wasn’t for these old bones.”

She gave the man a slow and horrified nod before returning to her team. It wasn’t long that the group made their way to the building Gajeel had directed them too. It was in fact a large blue building, with a strange and rather terrifying Monster on the side. The large horn and four strange mandibles coming out from around its mouth made a very lasting impression. The shinobi followed their client into the building, eyes taking in the wave and the rather blue esthetic of the lobby. Urahara waltzed right up to the front desk and closed his fan with a snap. “Hello! I was wondering where I could get the paperwork for Trader Permits?”

The secretary smiled at him, the young woman’s teal eyes lit with mirth. “I have a packet right here actually. Would you also like to see the King? He has some free time I believe.”

The shinobi’s gaze sharpened onto the girl as she shuffled some papers around before calling to the other person who shared the desk with her. “Nazuna, can you check with Daichi and Suga-san? I think we can get, uh,”

“Urahara Kisuke,” Urahara supplied, a smile on his face.

“Urahara-san,” she said with a grateful grin, “here taken care of.”

The pink haired girl gave her friend a look. “Sure. I actually have to run up there to drop something off. Be right back.”

She left the lobby, going up to the strange doorway at the left. Shikamaru felt his eyes widen as she stepped into the glowing green light and proceeded to hover in midair before kicking as if swimming. They watched with wonder as she vanished from sight. The girl at the desk got their attention back by handing a rather thick packet to Urahara.

“Here. Just fill this out and once Nazuna gets back I’ll let you know if you can see His Majesty.”

Urahara took the packet and gave her a grin. “Thank you, ah I never did catch your name.”

She laughed and handed him a pen as well. “Michiru. A pleasure. So,” she turned her attention to Genma, “How can I help you?”

Genma held up his hands. “Oh, no see we’re with him.” He gestured with his thumb to the now muttering Urahara. “We are hired to be his guard to and from here. The roads in the Land of Fire are rather dangerous.”

Michiru gave him a look. “Uh huh. Well, is there anything you wish to discuss with His Royal Highness?”

Iruka thankfully took over the conversation before Genma opened his big mouth. “Actually yes. See, our Hokage wants to discuss his own personal trade with your kingdom and our village. Or perhaps a treaty if Your Highness is willing.”

Michiru stared at him before going, “Uh-huh. That, sadly isn’t my department so you will have to discuss matters with the King.”

Their attention went back to the strange doorway as Nazuna came down, hitting the ground gracefully. She exited and nodded to them. “He’s free right now actually. Daichi says you can come on up. Please, follow me.”

The shinobi sent each other looks of worry and Lee went first. The young man gave Nazuna one of his trademark smiles, to which the young woman gave him a raised eyebrow. She simply said, “Hope you all don’t get motion sickness.”

She entered the strange glowing off room and floated once more. Lee took in a deep breath and stepped in. He lurched for a minute before settling by Nazuna. Gai went next and soon, the shinobi were in the surprisingly large glow room. Nazuna nodded and went, “Alright. We are going to the top floor so please be careful when you land.”

“Land?” Tenten called out but Nazuna already kicked off. The others followed suit and Shikamaru watched as they sped towards the top of the long shaft that apparently made up this...strange thing. They slowed down a bit and did as Nazuna did to land in a rather large waiting area. There was a desk set up similar to the one downstairs, only this time two young men around the Genins’ age were running the desk. One had dark brown hair and the other had silver hair and a rather cute mole under his left eye. The two of them perked up at the group approaching. The brown haired one stood up and came around from the desk. “Hello. Thank you Nazuna. I’ll take over from here.”

The pink haired girl nodded and turned around to head back to the glow room. Shikamaru watched as the new man gave them all a small bow. “Hello. I’m Daichi, Head Secretary to His Majesty. He just finished a meeting and is expecting you. Please, if you will follow me. I’m also having tea being set up.”

The Nara rolled his eyes and watched with a rather bored expression as they were ushered into a different room. He had to stop or else he would slam into Genma’s back. He poked his sensei in the side to get some kind of reaction from the man. He peered around the older shinobi to see a large office. One wall was nothing but glass that looked down into the city and the dark waters below. A large desk that had papers strewn across at the center of the glass wall. To the side was a small sitting area, complete with some leather couches and a small table. Along the far wall was a beautiful mural of Uzu walking, the waves forming her hair and different fish and Monsters swam within.

It was Genma who spoke, going, “Oh holy fucking shit.”

Shikamaru gave his sensei a look at that. Genma and Gai stared at the figure behind the desk, who was giving them a rather amused look. Sitting behind the desk wearing dark green robes was Kisame Hoshigaki, who had been rumored to be dead for at least a decade.

“Well,” the blue man said, folding his hands together to rest on the top of his desk. “This is a surprise.”

_ **~~~~~~~** _

[spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4PPS5iLGwGTPWKL4zUeZaG), [pinterest board](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pin.it/5vUQZwx&sa=D&ust=1593758670570000&usg=AFQjCNEA1AIMsx3y28PF5h9B7d46BhulBw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guess all the new cameos and you get cookies and booze (if you are of age)
> 
> But yes, the Konoha gang is FINALLY HERE!!! And the fun is now beginning. I have many a plans for this. Also, I have a new thing for the AU. I have a list of the Gods and Goddesses that are in this Universe. Some will make appearances now and later. Some none at all but it is fun to mention. Wanted to let yall know about that cause I may keep adding to it. Who knows. I also forgot to mention, if yall wanna submit stuff for the playlist or just ideas/art/whatever, hit up my tungle"
> 
> www.knit-mage.tumblr.com
> 
> Enjoy and be safe everyone!!!


	15. Uzu Arc: Deep in these Halls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have some news for y'all. Good news don't panic. I'm gonna be splitting this huge ass story up into parts. Think of each Arc as a Book. Each one will be its own. So once the Uzu Arc is over and we move into the Chuunin Exams, that will be its own story. When will that be I'm not exactly sure but it helps make me not want to cry about how big of a monster this will be. So, each bit of this universe will have its own names. In a way. World Building Bits will be "Oceans Rising", the story itself will get "The Flowing Current" and well, "Oceans Fall" are stories that will be either little crossovers of this universe with other fandoms/universes and um, scenes involving the dirty tango aka smut shots. Those will be kinda random so yeah. Enjoy?? ONWARDS TO THE CHAPTER

Genma tried not to gape but it was a surprise. Kisame Hoshigaki had been a boogeyman from Mist for years, one of the men in the bingo books that some hopeful chuunin had spoken of taking down one day. The Bijuu without a Tail did vanish off the face of the earth a few years ago, rumor going he had a run in with someone who finally took him out. Apparently that was a thrice-damned lie. Genma had to stare as an amused look came over Hoshigaki’s face. The man stood up from his seat and waved to the sitting area, “I suggest we take a seat. My assistant said you wish for trade?”

Genma held up his hand, “Wait, wait wait a fucking minute. YOU-” he pointed a finger to the apparent King, “are supposed to be dead. Or at least that was what the word was when your sword showed up in Mist a few years back!”

Hoshigaki sighed, moving to sit back down at his desk. “Well, I returned Samehada to the Mist. Given that I am not a swordsman any more, nor am I loyal to the Bloody Mist. Samehada deserves more than to rust and wait while I play King. They don’t deserve that.”

Ino was the one who piped up, much to the surprise of the Konoha Nin. “You’ve been king for quite some time then. Long enough for you to give up a piece of you like that.”

Hoshigaki simply raised an eyebrow at the young woman. “You know of swordsmen?”

Ino shrugged, tucking her hands behind her to grip tightly onto her belt. “Some. You pick things up here and there when you are dating a weapon nut.”

Tenten blushed and crossed her arms, “Ino-chan!”

That made a laugh come out of the blue skinned man. “That’s fair I suppose. I’ve picked up seals and trap making from my own lover and my heir.”

“Are we just going to ignore that an S-Class Missing Nin is a goddamn King?!” Genma all but shouted. 

Ino stepped on the foot of her sensei to get him to shut up while Hoshigaki rubbed at his forehead. “Somedays I wish I could be just a missing nin.”

Lee cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand? Why would you wish to return to such a detestable life?”

The First King slowly stood, his beautiful teal green robes sliding across the arms of the chair as he moved to look out the large window behind him. “It was a simple life then. Find shelter, forage for food, explore new towns and lands, meet new people, kill any hunter nin sent after you. Hell even taking up random jobs to get money for a nice night in a tavern was special in its own way. Granted,” he gave a small shrug, “ having a home to return to is nice. As is hot food and a warm bed but a missing nin’s life is simple.”

He turned back to look at the shinobi clumped by the door. He smiled, showing off his shark like teeth. “And while I miss it I love my people, my _home_ more. I love that I have people to protect, to see grow and live. I might have come forth from the Mists of Blood, but it is here.”

He spread his arms out to gesture to the city beyond, one that was alive and thrumming with the waves of beyond. “Here I actually feel wanted, desired and welcomed. I am the First King of Fukashio. I am the King of the Deep Tides and I would _never_ give that up.”

Shikamaru watched as the man moved back to his desk, sitting down in the chair with a solid thump. “The Bloody Shark of the Mist is not who I am anymore. I mean,” the First King gave them all a deadpan look, “my kingdom doesn’t have any shinobi forces. We are but simple traders, fishermen and people who wanted a life away from the Hidden Villages.”

Hoshigaki ran a hand through his hair. “I have no desire to return to the life of a shinobi. My life is here, in Fukashio and with my people. So please,” here he looked at them with the strength of a man ready to fight for what he loves, “if you want to waste my time then leave. If not, then sit your fucking asses down so we can discuss this like adults.”

Shikamaru’s eyebrows shot up. This was not a man who simply stopped being a shinobi due to politics. He **_chose_** to not be one anymore, not for medical reasons nor age. Unlike their current Hokage, Kisame Hoshigaki gave up being a shinobi to protect these people who came to this island, to start a new life. The so-called Bloody Shark was more than that apparently. 

Iruka surprised them all by going over to the sitting area and taking a spot closest to the window. He looked back at them. “Well? Sit down. It is rather rude to keep a king waiting.”

Shikamaru slowly went over as the king stood from his seat. The other shinobi moved to sit as well, clearly getting over their shock. The Nara Heir sat back and rested his hands in his lap just as his mother showed him how to for Noble Politics. _‘Troublesome’_ he thought as the king called for tea to be brought in by his assistant.

**_ ~~~~ _ **

Boredom was something Shikamaru knew like his own skin. He had been listening to Iruka and King Kisame go back and forth on various trade options, watching the rest of his team. Neji and Ino were taking mental notes, keeping their eyes trained on the Royal. No doubt the both of them doing a lot of mental tracking on how any deal with Fukashio could benefit their clans. Tenten was studying the art on the far wall, eyes tracking the lines where Uzu’s hair flowed to become the sea. Choji was leaning forward, taking actual notes on what the two adults were bartering about.

Gai and Genma had been poking and prodding at each other, some silent language the two of them had no doubt created to discuss...something. Lee, on the other hand, was staring in awe at the beauty that was the city that was beyond the office. They all startled a bit when the office door knocked and Daichi stuck his head in, a shy smile on his face.

“I bring tea and news, Your Highness.”

Kisame waved him in and the door opened fully. It felt like someone sucker punched Shikamaru in the stomach. The air left his lungs as he stared at the beauty coming in behind Daichi, pushing in the tea cart.

He was tall, far taller than anyone from not from the Akamichi clan. Skin as bronze as the sun warmed sand of Suna and eyes a beautiful blue to match the open waters of the sea. Hair as gold as the sun was tied back from his face in a high ponytail with different sized braids trailing through. Two smaller braids hugged his left cheek, a beautiful ruby bead rested on the end of one while a gold metal cap was on the other. Teal, green and blue glass beads were woven into the different braids, all different sizes to catch attention at different points. The man also was wearing one of the linen shirts they had been seeing around the city and town, only it wasn’t white or a light blue like the others. This matched the same rich teal of Kisame’s robes. It also had the deep v cut like that Gajeel guy had. Shikamaru’s mouth dried at the sight of a rather large spiral tattoo that was climbing the man’s neck. 

The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to show off the corded arms that had leather and bronze arm guards on. What really made Shikamaru’s brain fry was the tight leather pants that the other man wore, a very dark blue color that looked almost black. A brighter blue cloth belt that ran wide wrapped around his waist and the long tails brushed off the man’s left hip. Calf high leather boots that had more buckles than necessary (at least to Shikamaru’s shinobi brain) but it showed off the power in the man’s legs. Shikamaru glanced back up to the man’s face to take in the three strange whisker mark’s that adorned each cheek and to the bronze and green stone circlet that graced his head.

The blond man smiled at them and stopped the tea cart. “Hey Nii-san, ran into Daichi here on my way up and figured I could at least help with the tea.”

Kisame laughed, waving for the man to come over to him. The First King rose to give the other a hug. “Ah, I was wondering when you would emerge from the Vaults. Was getting a little worried, to be quite honest.”

The blond man shook his head, hugging the king. “Nah, nothing to worry about. Just got stuck in my own head is all.”

A very deliberate cough broke the two to smile sheepishly at Daichi who was giving them an amused look. “I’m quite glad his Royal Prince is alright. Honestly we were debating on who to send in after you.”

Shikamaru’s eyes went wide at the word “prince.” Thankfully, it was the strange wheeze noise from Genma that made the Fukashio royals look at them. 

“Ah, yes.” King Kisame said with his own cough. “Forgive me, Konoha Shinobi. I would like to introduce my Heir and Crown Prince of Fukashio. Naruto Uzumaki-Hoshigaki.”

The now named Naruto smiled and waved, “Hey.”

Ino was the only one to give a small wave back, “Hi?”

Naruto turned back to his father? Brother? And said, “So I closed down the Vaults since the Festival of Merriment starts tomorrow.”

Kisame rubbed his eyes, “Fuck. I forgot about that.”

He gave a look to the shinobi, “I do believe we can table any more discussions of trade for now.”

The blue skinned man looked to his assistant, “See if you can’t get rooms for our guests and their client at the Dragon’s Reef Hotel. I will pay for the costs since we have a festival going on.”

Daichi nodded, “Right away Your Majesty. I’ll also schedule a time for their client to work out his own trader deal with us.”

Kisame nearly sagged in relief. “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you or Suga.”

Daichi laughed, leaving to go back to his desk. “Probably be crying in the corner and nearly setting things on fire due to stress. Honestly at this point if we ever quit you’ll lose it.”

Naruto snorted, “More like pitch himself into the nearest volcano as a sacrifice to Agnor to bring you back.”

Kisame swatted at his heir who neatly dodged it. “That’s it. For the rest of the time the Konoha Shinobi are here you’re their guide.”

Naruto’s jaw dropped, “B-But Same-Nii!! We almost got the Far Wall almost translated!”

Crossing his arms, Kisame merely raised an eyebrow. “Should have thought of that before you gave me lip. Now,” he turned to the shell shocked shinobi, “I hate to cut this short but I sadly do have other responsibilities. I am inviting you to dinner later this week to further our discussion on trade. In the meantime, please enjoy your time here in Fukashio. Starting tomorrow we shall be hosting the Festival of Merriment, a three day event to honor the Goddess Mirsuki.”

Neji cocked his head to the side, “Who?”

Naruto looked to the sky, “The Goddess of Music, Merriments, Luck, Festivals and Alcohol. Basically we get to party for the next three days. Really you should know about her.”

Kisame waved a hand, “Doesn’t matter if they know of the gods or not Naruto. For Ocean’s sake why not take them to the Temple of the Divines later so you can get your history on. Seeing how it is something you enjoy.”

Shikamaru watched as a blush spread over Naruto’s face. “How did you find out about the tours?”

A deadpan look came from the king. “Children like to talk.”

Naruto raised his hands in defeat, “Fine. Come on then,” he gave the shinobi a rather…..ruffled look. “Might as well take you lot to the hotel to get some rest. We can pick your client up on the way.”

The shinobi stood, bowing and giving thanks to the King for having them. Then they proceeded to follow the Crown Prince. As they left the office, Shikamaru glanced behind him to see Kisame sit down and pull a strange rectangular piece of metal to him before the door closed. Shikamaru wondered what exactly they had walked into when Naruto called out to them, “Alright come on then! Gotta head back to Portside!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisame: I miss being a shinobi  
> *Konoha Nin Show up*  
> Kisame: NEVER FUCKING MIND
> 
> (ALSO)
> 
> Kisame: Whoever said they wanna take over the world, they can have all this paperwork nonsense
> 
> And yes, Shikamaru is BIG Disaster Gay. Ino and Tenten are a thing, yeah took me by surprise too. Sorry?? and Also, YES NARUTO HAS FINALLY ENTERED THE SCENE


	16. Uzu Arc: Swimming in the Tides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait yall. Life.....life has been hitting hard rn. Summary: Fuck 2020. Also had to break this chapter up. Was getting rather long even for my tastes so be prepared for them to FINALLY get their festival wear next chapter.

Genma felt as if someone had stolen his very soul from his body. Walking ahead of him and the others was the long lost son of the Yondaime. The very same child that drove Kakashi to feral insanity, made the village shinobi turn on their heads and nearly caused a fucking cold civil war between the Shinobi Clans and the Civilian Court was alive and apparently very well. Given that he was a GODDAMN PRINCE. Granted, Genma mentally grumbled, Kushina was said to be royalty from...Uzu...shio…

It took everything in Genma to not start smacking his head into a nearby wall. Repeatedly. Fukashio was the rebuilt Uzushio. It made fucking sense. The spiral aesthetic of the city, the fact that they claimed ruins were in town, and for fucks sake their patron goddess was Uzu! The very same goddess the Uzumaki clan and Uzushio were named after!!! Genma clenched his teeth down on the senbon in his mouth, grimacing as he looked at the young and healthy man in front of him.

Naruto had gotten them out of the building, whirled Urahara-san in somehow and was now leading them back to the town of Portside. Naruto was chatting with Choji about the different restaurants here on the island while Ino and Tenten were pointing out shops to Lee and Karin. Gai slowly made it to Genma and in a whisper that none would believe, talked to Genma. “So what do we do?”

The other man rolled his senbon in his mouth. “With what exactly?”

Gai subtly gestured to Naruto. “Him. The one person that both drove my Eternal Rival to madness and is keeping him from falling further into said madness.”

Genma scratched the back of his neck. “Oh right him. The Crown Fucking _Prince_ to a Kingdom that is built from the Ruins of his Ancestors and need I remind you that said Kingdom has Kisame Bloody Hoshigaki as King? They may not have a shinobi force but you can’t believe he just stopped being a shinobi. He had to have shared his moves with the people to protect themselves.”

Gai gave his friend a look. “You might have a point.”

“A point?!” The assassin hissed. He reached up and grabbed Gai by the neck of his flack vest and yanked him down to meet the other’s eye. “Say we somehow manage to kidnap the fucking Crown Prince. Of an Island Nation. We don’t know these fucking waters first of all. Second of all what will happen when word gets out that _Konoha_ straight up kidnapped a member of a royal family? Of a new Kingdom that, for all it shows, is flourishing pretty fucking well. Yeah we get the small reward of bringing home the apparent long lost son of the Yondaime. We will be at war the second we fucking take this kid from port. And you know good and fucking well we can’t afford that kind of war. Not with how the Hokage is.”

Gai at least had the right to look ashamed. “Not only that, think for a fucking second. This kid didn’t grow up in Konoha. He went missing when he was six.”

Black eyes met brown. Gai’s bushy eyebrows rose as he thought. “But it’s a good distance from here to Konoha. For us it was nearly a month of travelling.”

Genma held up a finger, still gripping onto Gai’s vest. “That was also with us detouring into Wave. A straight shot from here to Konoha on foot will take us about two weeks. Provided we kept going in the direction of the mainland without stopping. We don’t have that kind of chakra reserves and neither do the kids.”

It looked like Gai finally got it. He flickered his gaze to where the Genin were chatting with each other and the Prince. “We wait,” Genma started, finally releasing his friend. “I want to know how a six year old managed to get from Konoha to here and not being discovered.”

Gai nodded and fixed his vest. “Right. You do know we have to tell him.”

Genam groaned and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Of course we do. But not yet.”

The shorter man ignored the sputtering mess that came from Gai. “What will happen,” he gave his oldest friend a look, “if we tell him that not only is Naruto alive and clearly well. But he is living in the new kingdom we went to? Tell me Gai. You know him just as well, if not better than I do. What would Kakashi aka the Feral Wolf do if he found that the closest thing to a pup he has is alive and not with him?”

Gai was quiet for a few minutes before going, “He would leave.”

Genma nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets as they went into the tunnel once again, mentally enjoying the coolness the cave’s darkness brought. “And you know what the esteemed Grand Council would do if Kakashi finally decided to go rogue.”

The Man of a Thousand Kicks winced. “Oh that won’t end well.”

“Exactly. So we just have to wait. And fucking listen. In the meantime let’s keep doing our job and not fuck anything up.”

Gai nodded, “Right. Of course.”

They slightly jumped when Iruka slid over to them, with amusement on his lips. “So, I take it you two noticed it too?”

Genma nearly swallowed his tongue. “Oh?”

Iruka motioned to where Shikamaru was staring at Naruto. “I do believe Shikamaru-kun has finally discovered his type.”

It was then Genma knew some higher deity was honestly fucking with him.

**_ ~~~ _ **

Naruto was walking ahead of him and Shikamaru felt desire roaring through his veins for the first time since puberty. He mentally shook his head, instead focusing onto the conversation Naruto and the others were having. 

“Yeah, the Festival of Merriment is basically one big party that lasts three days. There will be food available all weekend as well as alcohol. Music will be done live in certain parts of the cities and towns. Games will be happening in certain stalls, mostly to try and keep the kids from nicking any booze. Same-nii lost his shit when a group of kids got really drunk.” the blond man said, expertly weaving around some kids screaming by.

Lee gave a noise, “I see King Kisame does right by your people then?”

Naruto patted a passing kid on the head and gave the children a wave, still focusing on Lee. “He does. Ever since he came home he’s been doing nothing but improving things here for us and our people. Hence why he brought back the festival days for the gods and goddesses alike.”

Ino whined, “I wish we knew there was a festival. I would have brought my kimono.”

“Kimono? You don’t wear those to this kind of festival,” Naruto said, giving the other blonde a look. “Kimonos are for funerals and weddings, if you want a more traditional one that is.”

That got all of the Konoha nin to stare at the prince. Karin was the one to go, “Well what do you wear then?”

A shrug came from the prince. “Festival Wear. You know, bright colors? Decorative headdresses, and wearing outfits inspired by your clan’s gods?”

From the confused looks from the shinobi it must have dawned on Naruto that they had no idea what he was talking about. The blond man gave a sigh. “Okay, new plan. We head to the hotel, drop off your stuff in your rooms then I’m going to take you to get festival wear from one of the good shops. Not the shops that cater to the tourists.”

While Ino was ecstatic at the prospect of shopping, it was Choji who asked, “Clan gods?”

Naruto crossed his arms, expertly weaving around an ox drawn cart and casually waving at the woman driving it. “I heard that the mainland’s religion was monotheistic, so how to explain.”

Neji spoke next, “Well it depends on the region actually. I hear that some of the people in Iwa worship a mountain god?”

The crown prince turned on his heel to look at the Branch Hyuuga. “That would make sense, given they are in a mountainous region. You have to understand something here though,” the man tugged on one of his braids, “just because we worship Uzu as our patron goddess of the kingdom doesn’t mean everyone worships her.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lee asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Let’s take Urahara-san here for example,” Narutowaved a hand at the man (who was still filling out the packet but mumbling under his breath), “he’s a merchant right?”

Karin nodded, “And a shopkeep back home why?”

Naruto grinned, “Then let’s say for explanation purposes he was born and raised here on Fukashio. Sure he might worship and honor Uzu but since he is a merchant than his patron god would probably be Azshura. He’s the god of merchant, commerce, travels and trickery. He is a trickster yes but he is also a travelling merchant. Our marketplaces have shrines for him actually.”

Surprisingly enough, it was Lee who piped up. “I see. So you have certain gods who have one specialty. Like myself and Tenten.”

The shinobi gave him a confused look while Naruto beamed. Shikamaru sighed, crossed his arms behind his head. “It makes sense. If you aren't a sailor then Uzu won’t be someone you worship.”

Naruto pointed at the Nara Heir. “You get it.” Either the blond didn’t notice the blush on Shikamaru’s face or ignored it. “See regardless of clan gods we do have festival days honoring most of our gods.”

“Most?” asked Ino, taking in some of the shops as they entered Portside once more. 

Naruto looked out in the direction of the bay, blue eyes darkening. “Some are not worth mentioning.”

Intrigued, Shikamaru wanted to ask more but Gai interrupted by prompting on where their hotel was located. After Naruto all but ran them through town, they managed to get to the honestly lovely hotel that was basically on the beach. Naruto spoke to the front desk, charming the pants off the two young men (Ino poked fun at Shikamaru's surprise jealousy) and swiftly getting the group up the stairs and into their shared suite rooms. While Gai, Genma and Iruka were discussing how to rotate guard duty for Urahara, the young ladies were in awe of the beautiful view of the water from their hotel room. 

Shikamaru, Choji and Neji were figuring out who got what bed (all agreeing to put Lee closest to the door) and soon enough, the group had put bags away, sleeping arrangements figured out and leaving Iruka and Urahara behind (the man was still trying to figure out paperwork and Iruka volunteered to stay), they ventured out to get some Fukashio Festival Wear….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes, Genma is smart, Shikamaru is becoming a disaster and to sum up the Festival, it's Carnival. Straight up Carnival.


	17. Uzu Arc: Festival Duds and All That Jazz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up late with an update and Starbucks*
> 
> Hey guys. Sorry it's been a while. I got promoted at work, is moving and just been real life shit. Also sorry that the chapter is a bit short but honestly I wanna move ahead in the plot so, yeah

Tenten was a fairly normal kunoichi. She knew where to point a kunai and her sensei was a taijutsu nut to the point that the young woman had some of the best stamina out of her immediate age group (to which Ino loved very much some days). The thing was, she was a shinobi so she knew her ideas of clothing were a bit more skewed than a civilian’s idea but that didn’t, however, stop the young woman from gawking at the insane and tiny outfits in the shop. One looked like a basic civilian bra with a lot more sparkling jewels attached. Karin herself was a blushing mess while Ino was staring at one particular headdress. Seriously, why did it need that many feathers?

Choji was staring at the mannequins that had outfits on it, clearly tugging a bit at his armor as the fake torso showed off a lean build. Before Tenten could go over to her friend, an older croaky voice spoke up from the back end of the shop.

“Naruto you little shithead!”

All the shinobi whipped their heads to stare in blatant shock as an old woman who barely came up to Gai’s waist proceeded to whack at the Crown Prince with her cane. Naruto danced out of the way, laughing the whole time. “Oh come on Granny! You love a challenge!”

The old woman shook her cane at him. “Not the day before the Festival you little shit! I swear you and Toshi are related, what with how often you two drive me crazy.”

The prince laughed and waved a hand to the now awkward looking Konohans. “Yes yes we love to raise your blood pressure as you’ve said many a time but look at it this way, fresh meat to clothe.”

A huff left her and she went over to Gai, prodding at his arms and legs with her cane. The taller man gave his comrades a wary look. “Um?”

“Chiyo,” she said all the while giving him an overview. 

“Right, um, Chiyo-san? May I ask what you are doing?”

Chiyo waved a hand at him before going over to one of the racks in her shop, rifling through the clothing. “What does it look like? My job. The young Prince wants you to have good clothing that isn’t overpriced.”

Gai gave Genam a questioning look before Chiyo went, “Aha!”

The man barely had time to catch the pieces of clothing being thrown at his head. He bumbled a bit before yelping as Chiyo whacked at his knees to herd him to the changing rooms. “Go go! You must try on and see!”

The three young women giggled as they watched Gai get bullied into a changing room by a woman half his size. They stopped when Chiyo spotted them. As Tenten began to question this entire mission, Shikamaru slowly sidled next to Naruto. The blond was discussing the cultural importance of the Festival with Neji and Lee. 

“Basically it’s a way to celebrate the Goddess of Fun, Alcohol and Music. For the next three days we will be hosting one of the largest celebrations for Mirsuki. Starting at Sundown tomorrow we will begin the Festival. Granted there will be things available during the day, like games and food to try and help wear some of the kids out since, you know, alcohol goddess.”

Lee nodded, “Right that makes sense. Yosh! I am excited! Sadly, I too must refrain from partaking in alcoholic beverages.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “May I ask why?”

Neji was the one to answer that one, not looking up from where he was tugging out a strange set of legwarmers?

“Alcohol and Lee don’t mix. He is an instinctive user of the Drunken Fist. However in a surprising turn of events, Lee here is allergic to alcohol.” the Branch Hyuuga stated, eyebrows rising at the deep blue fabric in his hands.

Naruto’s own eyes went round and he placed a hand on Lee’s shoulder, “My sympathies. You are probably going to be one of the few sober people on the island by the end of the weekend.”

Lee simply shrugged, “I’m usually designated sober anyways. I don’t mind it though.”

“Why’s that, if I may ask?” the Prince questioned, quickly moving out of the way for Chiyo as the older woman grabbed Neji to drag him off.

A surprisingly dark grin came over Lee’s face and he held up one of the older cameras from Konoha. “Blackmail material.”

The laugh that left Naruto was enough to make the others wonder if his lungs were getting enough air….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips on my coffee*
> 
> So, I'm working on something to help explain the Siren abilites of the Uzumaki so stat tuned


	18. Uzu Arc: Time to Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waltzes in several months late wearing sunglasses and having a bottle of vodka in hand*  
> Welp, I can explain. Well, sorta. Work sucked. A lot. As soon as October hit, my work place began to have holiday catering orders. Like big ass ones that feeds families of anywhere between 6-10 people. And we were also open on Thanksgiving so we had to do about 500 catering orders on top of feeding people coming into the restaurant. It was a very bad place. Toxic to hell given that I was one of the top cooks in said restaurant was not good. It made me angry, depressed and eventually I didn't even pull out my laptop for well over a month. I eventually had enough on Christmas Eve and thus, found a new job. I quit and it's a new start to a new chapter in my life. HENCE the new chapters coming out lol  
> again, I wish to apologize for the lateness. Between work, 2020 and just the generic shit so TADA. I think I have two or three chapters left in The Current Runs Deep. Then we are off to the second of the series!!! And lemme say this....No one is ready *cackles*

They had gotten their outfits for the festival and were finally back at the hotel for the night. Prince Naruto had dropped them back off after dealing with Chiyo-san and left them with some take out menus.

“Just charge them to the Royal Account. Tell them the Abyss King gave you permission.” He said, waving away their money.

Choji was the one who offered to take Naruto out to eat then, grinning at the flabbergasted look on Shikamaru's face. Naruto laughed and turned it down politely, "I would but I already made dinner plans with my research team. Perhaps later?"

They agreed for a later time and the prince led them back to their hotel, arranging to have their outfits be delivered to the hotel. The blond man walked them up to the door, giving the information for their deliveries to Iruka. “Please, do not hesitate to call if you need help with them. For a first time Festival goer, they can be a bit confusing and intimidating.”

After a final goodbye, the prince left them. While the younger adults were conversing on what to get for dinner, Gemma and Gai hunkered down on the balcony of the room. They both quickly threw up some quick but effective privacy seals and looked at each other. “He knows something.” Genma said, bobbing the senbon in his mouth.

Gai folded his arms over his chest. “Young Naruto?”

His friend shook his head, “No. Iruka. He’s been….off since we arrived on the island but I don’t know what.”

The other man frowned. “What do you mean?”

The assassin leaned back in the chair, eyes making point on the beach below. “I’m not sure. The thing that has really gotten me is that he isn’t as gooey eyed over this place like the rest and seemed quite friendly with some of the locals.”

It was Gai who shook his head. “Iruka-san is like this. He is very much so unflappable due him being a teacher to the young ones back home. He has seen things we could never have and vice versa. He is probably wanting to sink his teeth into their education system here, to compare notes.”

Grimacing, Genma chewed on the end of the metal death stick in his mouth. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Alright, let’s head back inside before the kids start wondering if we are plotting again.”

Gai gave him a pointed look, “You are plotting something my old friend but what I’m not sure of yet.”

Rolling his eyes, Genma released the seals and went inside to make sure the Genin didn’t accidentally start a war over something as trivial as food. Honestly it was a miracle they could order anything without falling into a fight….

**_~~~~_ **

Naruto hummed a song to himself as he walked down the halls of the palace. The entire right wall was nothing but a clear seal barrier, giving out a view of the beach and the gentle waves of the ocean. He had to pause for a moment, looking out at the waves. Part of him was not exactly thrilled that there was shinobi from Konoha, even though Iruka was among them was absolutely hilarious. He knew, deep down, that Konoha would find him eventually. He had hoped though, that by that time he would be the second King. Kisame fully retired to a counselor to the throne and enjoying his time heckling Naruto about babies and marriage. Seems that fate and the gods saw otherwise. Letting out a sigh, the blond man continued walking to stop at a door. He opened them and he entered the dining room, nodding to the small handful of servants rushing about to finish setting the dinner table.

Kisame sat at his normal chair, his robe tossed onto a nearby chair and Naruto couldn’t help but smile at the blue man. It seemed forever ago that the man showed up on the beach, wearing a tattered pair of pants and looking several kinds of terrified. Naruto walked up to his father figure and pressed a kiss to the older man’s cheek.

“Welcome home.”

Kisame smiled at him, rubbing a hand into Naruto’s blond locks. “It’s good to be home. They settled in?”

Naruto took his normal seat next to the shark man. “As well as they can be. I sent Denki and Shinsou to listen in on them.”

A single dark blue eyebrow rose. “Those two? They can’t keep their hands off of each other long enough based on your rants.”

A very unattractive snort came from the prince. “Yeah well, I threatened them with Haku-nee.”

“Ah…...Haku agreed?”

Laughter came from the blond as he began to serve himself some food. “Oh she did. Mostly because she has gotten bored with scaring the new divers. Wanted something fresh, she said.”

Ignoring the shiver of fear going down his spine, the king made sure to grab some of the delicious but spicy fried shrimp. “Somehow I am not surprised.”

Naruto took a bite of some grilled grouper. “Everything set for tomorrow?”

Kisame hummed, taking a sip of the wine he had. “It’s all in place. Your outfit is in your room by the way. You have a plan for the festival I take it?”

A rather sharp smile swept across Naruto’s face. “One of them seems to like me Kisame-nii. Won’t take much to get him to spill. Especially if I shove enough alcohol down his throat.”

Kisame gave his heir a sharp smile in return. “ Good. Let’s stick to what we can and go forth from there. Iruka said he would be running interference on the group whenever he can.”

“Wonderful. I do hope he plans on splitting them up somehow. Good thing no crime happens during the festival.”

Kisame had to smirk into his glass. “The gods do not take kindly to those who wish to ruin their Festival Days that is true. But for now I want you to focus on getting as much information out of these people as you can without raising suspicion.”

Naruto nodded, “Not a problem. Speaking of problems…”

The two continued on their conversation before retiring for the night. Both of them feeling the excitement bubbling beneath the surface….

**_~~~~_ **

Shikamaru tugged on the armband, mentally scowling at the bright blue of it. As a shinobi, you usually didn’t wear bright colorful things unless you had the ability to go toe to toe with some of the more dangerous ones. Gai got away with wearing bright green and near eye searing orange because he could sling men into mountains without blinking. Shikamaru glared at the outfit and wanted nothing more than to go home. The others were spread throughout the hotel room, finishing getting ready. The ladies had absconded to their clients room, leaving Urahara to get ready with them.

The merchant sighed, tightening the knot of the waist cloth. “I do wish my husband could join us. He would have had so much fun.”

The Nara heir gave a grunt and looked longingly at his shoes. He wanted to wear his sandals but their costumes came with their own form of shoe. A thin ass sandal that probably couldn’t do much damage. He was brought out of his thoughts by Genma going, “Maybe you can bring him here next year for it?”

Shikamaru sighed, moving closer to Neji who was looking at the amount of hanging coins on his belt. “How can anyone NOT make noise while wearing this?”

Choji shrugged, shifting and reaching up to fix his new headband. “Dunno but I’m excited to see how this is going to go. I feel more naked than being bare assed.

“I agree, this is most strange,” Lee said as he tied on his leather bracers that came with his outfit. “But I am also very interested in how this will turn out. I do wonder how many people came for this festival.”

Shikamaru had to agree and what felt like in no time at all, everyone was ready and left the hotel. The sun was starting to set as they made their way across the island to the capital, watching how restaurants, food stalls and bars were filling with people. Strings and ropes of lights lines the streets, casting glows of different colors on people. Children were herded off to different streets with their laughter trailing behind them. Shikamaru had to smile as he watched some of the younger kids trail after their siblings and cousins, singing and laughing. Before long, they made it through the tunnel and entered the Capital’s main street. The streets were packed. Like immensely so that it probably would have given the Anbu back home several heart attacks.

People were wearing similar outfits to their own. Brightly colored feathers tickled bare skin, Gemstones glittered in the multicolored lights and people were all gathering to the rails of the roads and streets that overlooked the large pool of water that was in the center. Shikamaru managed to worm his way to one of the rails, looking around the city. Bright lights and faint music could already be heard and honestly, the Nara heir felt like he was in the center of a new world with how the lights were playing on the water. People were swimming down in the waters, splashing one another and laughing. Shikamaru got comfortable, leaning against the stone rail while his teammates and friends tried to get comfortable as well.

Choji made a comment about how the sun was just about gone over the rim of the inground city and some stranger called out in response, “It’s almost time then! Get ready!”

Shikamaru blinked in confusion at that but before he could ask some random person, the street lights dimmed to almost nothing. All that was giving light were the strands of lights that were scattered around the city. Up, at the very top where the building they had met the king was, something was happening. There was a flicker of a lightish blue then, a giant screen blinked into existence. It floated, appearing out of nowhere and it was impressive to Shikamaru. The genius side of his brain wanted to know how it could work but the other side of his brain was shocked that the people of Fukashio could create something amazing. On the screen was the king himself, Kisame wearing this amazing [ocean](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1f/b3/5b/1fb35baea947ddb14a40ce693da87952.jpg&sa=D&ust=1610430927740000&usg=AOvVaw2ToJJKoFwzhyWJTbicnk3f) [themed](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a0/ba/7e/a0ba7e698648ae7f76658e7697536bfc.jpg&sa=D&ust=1610431042869000&usg=AOvVaw13Xn-MBa2yDNhSu66W71bT) outfit. The bronze crown gleamed as he stood tall for his people. The crowds howled and cheered, loud enough that it echoed within the stone walls of the city. The very streets shook under the cries of joy from the people and Kisame smiled.

“Hello and good evening everyone. Welcome to the Festival of Merriment! Starting tonight, for the next three days we will be hosting this Festival in honor of the goddess Mirsuki!”

The crowd roared, loud enough that it made Shikamaru’s ears ring and jaw hurt. Kisame held up a hand, showing off the bronze rings and arm piece to them all. “Please, be responsible during these days. Make sure you eat, have plenty of water and rest. If needs must, the hospitals are still open and report any crime during this event. No matter how minor. All children are to remain in their designated areas,” here he raised an eyebrow, “and we know if you won’t. Drink responsibility everyone and have fun. With at, HAVE FUN!”

Shikamaru watched with wide eyes as people cheered. The screen blinked out and he watched as Kisame launched himself off the balcony he was on, landing in the waters below. The crowds roared when their king surfaced, letting out a laugh. Music began to play from around them. Deep drums thumped deep into the brunet man’s chest, almost as if his ribcage was going to burst forth. He turned to his friends, grinned and said, “Let’s get a drink!”

Ino laughed, raising a hand to the air. “I’m down for that! Let’s go!”

And with that, the younger shinobi began their first night of drinking….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm hoping to try and post a new chapter for the rest of this week until we get finished with this. I'm hoping to actually start posting the second in this series which is named, "From the Depths which They Came". this is the entire Chuunin Arc guys. Right there. With a splash of world building and Imma say this. There will be a thruple. Figure out who lol and I just checked my outline....there are 7, SEVEN stories in this fucking series, not including any world building one shots. I...HOW?!


	19. Uzu Arc: Nights Among the Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told y'all I would be posting a chapter a day lol well, a day for me. It's currently 1 am for me cause I'm going to night shifts. Sooo, hope yall like it!!!

It was nice, Shikamaru thought as he all but fell into the sand, Alcohol warmed his blood and he began to hum along to the music that was faintly playing from the town. He let his toes dig into the sand, falling back and letting the sun warmed sand comfort him. Letting his eyes close, the Nara heir folded his arms behind his head. He did crack open an eye when he heard someone sit down in the sand next to him and nearly had a full blown heart attack when he saw it was the Prince of Fukashio himself. Prince Naruto looked beautiful. The malachite beads that were woven into his hair clinked against the bronze hair rings as he turned his head to fully look at the frozen shinobi. Shikamaru had to make sure his heart wasn’t popping out of his chest as the heir to the throne calmly shucked off his decorative arm bands and leg warmers. 

“So, uh, hi?” the shinobi asked

Naruto let out a soft huff and pulled out a dark green glass bottle from behind him. “Just making sure you are doing ok.”

Damn his brain, for nothing eloquent wanted to come out. Instead, Shikamaru spat out. “Can’t complain now that you’re here.”

Naruto laughed. “Well that’s sweet of you.”

The tiny sober part of Shikamaru’s brain was screaming. The largely drunk and quite brave part didn’t care. He rolled up onto his side, popping his head up on his hand to fully look at the gorgeous prince. “Sweet isn’t the only thing I am.”

The blond paused in taking a drink, raising an eyebrow. “Oh? And what else are you?”

“According to my mother, a lazy sarcastic little shit who very much needs to get a girlfriend.” he said with complete deadpan.

That caused a snort to come from the other man, a wide smile on his face. Shikamaru reached over to politely tug the bottle from Naruto, taking a swig of the spiced rum that was inside. The blond gained a faint blush and pointelty watched as the brunet teasingly flicked his lip over the rim of the bottle. 

“And why,” Naruto began, moving to lean back against his hands, “does your mother think you need a girlfriend?”

A deep groan came from Shikamaru. He passed the bottle back and flopped down on his front, much closer to Naruto than before. “Fucking gender norms that’s why. I’m the heir to my clan therefore I need a girlfriend who will eventually be my wife so I can continue on the next generation of Naras. It’s shit.”

Naruto hummed, taking a rather long swig of the drink. “Gross.”

Shikamaru poked the prince in the thigh, squinting at him. “What about you? You’re the heir here right?”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean anything. Kisame adopted me and so he made sure there was a law and such about how one can adopt as long as it is legal and all that shit.”

A laugh came from the mainlander, making Naruto shove gently at his shoulder with the bottle. “What’s funny?”

Shikamaru chuckled, getting comfortable in the sand. “You swearing. It’s cute.”

A darker blush came over the taller male. “You think it’s cute?”

A tired yawn erupted from SHikamaru. “Yeah. I think you’re cute.”

Naruto blinked. ‘Wait what?”

Silence.

“Shikamaru?”

A light snore was his reply, making the prince shake his head. “I honestly should have seen that coming. But,” he had to smile, “he thinks I’m cute. That’s gotta count for something.”

Naruto stared at the now passed out form of Shikamaru, sighing as faint snores came from the mainlander. The prince stood, quietly walking over the other and making his way to the surf that was slowly crashing against the shore. He slowly undid all of the decorative belts and wrappings from his lower half, tossing them into the sand behind him. The blond man stripped out of the soft shorts he wore, throwing it with the rest of the fabrics in the sand. A smile spread across his face as he waded into the water, letting the warm waves crash and tug at his legs. Naruto sighed and threw himself into the water. As he swam into the shallows, he let himself change. Skin shifted to scales; nails into claws; spines erupting from his back. Naruto pumped his powerful tail, going faster through the water. 

He swam past the peepers lazily swimming about, all but flying over giant coral tubes and soft pink dunes. Naruto went further, past the shallows and over the red seagrass fields. He waved to the quiet reefbacks, brushing a hand along a calf’s side. The prince swam further and deeper, hissing at the sand sharks that tried to bite him. The deeper he went, the darker the water got and eventually he arrived at a crater in the sands. In the crater was a metal square entrance. Faint green lights glowed from where they were embedded into the metal and Naruto had to brush a clawed hand against it. The cold metal seemed to hum from within, the glow flashing brighter for a heartbeat. Naruto entered and proceeded to swim deeper into the tunnel, following it as it twisted and turned. 

It eventually spat him out in a large natural cavern. Faint green lights stretched across the roof of the cavern, lighting up the large stone dias that was in the center. He swam up to it and slowly rested on it, pressing a hand on the engraved seals into the stone. Letting chakra run down his arm and poured it into the seal. The ancient stone glowed a deep emerald green. The last true Uzumaki closed his eyes and spoke.

“Sweet Mother of the Sea, I wish for your counsel.”

He opened his eyes when he felt a rush of water swirl in front of him. Forming out of the very ocean was Uzu herself. Her dark eyes softened when she saw her child of the sea. “What is it that you exactly seek my child?”

Naruto smiled, “Well, I know you are aware of the Konohan shinobi on our shores.”

That made the goddess scowl, “Oh yes. I am. I know that Iruka had to return to the Forest of Lies to spy on them What brings the leaves of that dying tree here?”

“From what I can tell, they honestly didn’t know I or any of us were here. Iruka said the only reason their council even heard of us was because of traders and merchants.” the blond shrugged.

Uzu sneered, “Of course. They are greedy humans. Always wanting more for them.” She shook her head, “What do you want to do with them?”

Naruto looked down, beginning to pick at his tail. “I’m not exactly sure.”

The goddess raised an eyebrow. “Explain.”

“I’m mad, furious even, at Konoha but not enough to hurt the ones here. According to Iruka, they did not even know of me. Hell I didn’t even see any of them when I was with the academy. They are all clan kids and the clans don’t even put their kids into the academy until they are seven or eight. I,” he pointed at himself, “ was in it at the age of five with the other civilian kids. The younger shinobi that are wandering my island honestly have no idea who I am.”

Silence floated between the two beings for a moment before Naruto spoke again.

“I want the core, the heart, of every single council member in Konoha crushed under my hand,” claws dug into the rock, barely missing the seals. “I want to watch as their lives fall into shambles, watch as their homes are ripped asunder and their lands destroyed. What I truly seek, O’Mother of Us, is how I can make them suffer before I take away everything from them?”

That made the goddess quiet. She grew pensive, frowning and crossing her arms. She tapped at her upper arms, some random tempo as she thought. Naruto shifted, moving his tails to get into a more comfortable position. He watched from the corner of his eye as his memoriam braids float and drift in the water, the ruby hair bead glinting dull in the faint light. Uzu let out a low growl, bringing her heri, her champion’s attention back to her. She unfolded her arms and spoke.

“I know very little of the Forest itself, given that I was grieving for the others.”

Naruto watched quietly as her face contorted into sorry. The very waters around them grew colder and it felt heavier after a few moments. The Uzumaki reached out and gently placed a hand on her arm. A sad smile graced her face and she placed a hand over his own. She gave it a squeeze before continuing on. “My only thought is I do not want you to go back.”

Naruto moved closer. “I might not have a choice Mother.”

An aggravated sigh came from her. “I know. Doesn’t mean I like it.” It was then her eyes lit up. “Wait, do the shinobi still have that fake war of theirs?”

Naruto blinked, “Their what?”

Uzu waved a hand, “My memory of humans is not the best I admit but I do remember some of the Predecessors would speak of. A treaty that made a fake war that doubled as a tournament.”

That made blue eyes widen. “Wait. I think I know what you are speaking of. Kisame spoke of it from his time in Kiri. The Chuunin Exams I think he said they were.”

The grin on the sea goddess’s face was slightly terrifying. “Why wouldn't it be a lovely idea to go a treaty with Konoha by being invited to watch their upcoming chuunin to show how they can protect us or our merchants?”

“Oh,” a similar grin stretched over Naruto’s face, “and it would be a sign of good faith for us to send the heir to the throne to play Ambassador to create and solidify the treaty they are oh so wanting?”

Uzu let out a dark laugh, “Oh my little maelstrom, I think we should go speak to Kisame. My little shark has been craving for a nice hunt.”

“We will bring it up to him but later,” the merman said, “Iruka is home after all and Kisame does ever so miss him.”

That made a small blush go across Uzu’s face. “Ah. Yes. Well, after the festival for my sister. Lead the Konohans into a false security. You know what to do, child of my waters.”

Naruto chuckled and pushed off the stone dias. “I will. I'll even enjoy the festival.”

Uzu laughed and gave a wave as he swam out of the cavern. She let it die off and sighed. Turning, Uzu let her waters take her. As she became one with the tide, she thought of the boy touched by the shadows. The one who left an offering for her monsters of the deep. She couldn’t help but wonder if he did like men for he seemed like a good match for her maelstrom. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “After all,” she said to herself, “maelstroms cast long shadows into the deep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would anyone be interested in reading Choji's one night stand? I um, cut it out from the story cause I really don't wanna add in chapters of smut. If anyone wants to read it, I'll make it into a one shot!!
> 
> As always, THANK YOU FOR READING AND PLEASE BE SAFE!!!!


	20. Uzu Arc: Morning Afters Always Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall. So, sorry it's been a bit. life came in sideways and kinda kicked my ass. Also, I live in the state of Texas so, everything be frozen. Like, FROZEN. I'm safe don't worry. I hope everyone out there is too!!!
> 
> Anyways, have at it with this chapter guys. Just a couple more and this fic is done. then? *grins* well, hope yall are ready

Ino stumbled into the breakfast nook that Genma had claimed for themselves. Sitting at one of the tables was Shikamaru looking like death warmed over. He gave her a grunt when she flopped into a chair. 

“Where” she started to say when a cup of coffee was placed in front of her. Ino pounced on the cup like a feral being. The woman drained it quickly, groaning in joy as she felt her metabolism attack the caffeine. Opening her eyes, she gave a smile to the one who gifted her with the anti murder juice. Tenten giggled at her and pressed a kiss to the side of her girlfriend’s head. “Good morning my lily.”

Ino hummed, “Good morning. How come you’re not dying like the rest of us mortals?”

Tenten sat down next to her, handing the poison user another cup of coffee. “Easy,” she said and ignored the squeal of joy that Ino gave, “Gai-sensei has this health drink that somehow doubles as a magic potion that eliminates hangovers.”

Ino made grabby hands at her girlfriend, clearly wanting that potion. Tenten laughed, “Neji is making a huge batch as we speak.”

That made the blonde groan in misery. “But babyyyy.”

The weapons master shook her head, focusing on the man that was slowly trying to become one with the table. “Where did you end up last night? I kinda lost track of everything and everyone.”

Shikamaru moaned like a body unwillingly brought back from the dead. “Somehow I wound up on the beach not far from the hotel. You?”

Tenten let Ino rearrange her so they could sit comfortably together. “We managed to get back to the hotel fine for the most part. We were back around 3ish. Not going to lie, a bomb could have gone off in the next room and I wouldn't have even twitched.”

Shikamaru nodded, “That’s fair. I apparently passed out hard in the sand and only woke up long enough to make my way back here not long after you.”

Tenten nodded, raising a hand to weave her fingers into blonde hair. “Yeah that checks out.”

The three of them jumped slightly when Neji placed down a rather large box onto the table. “Who wants a magic potion?”

Both Ino and Shikamaru stretched out a hand. As Neji gave them each a strange ugly green smoothie, INo glanced to the area behind him only to do a double take. “Oh my gods.”

The others looked to where she was staring at and shock, as well as surprise, rippled through them. For coming in from the front door wearing clothes from last night was none other than Choji. The smile that came across Ino’s face was enough to make Neji and Shikamaru shuffle away from her.

“Well, well, well,” she started, making her teammate jump. “Where have you been?”

Choji blushed, rubbing the back of his neck and unknowingly bringing attention to the hickies that were decorating his skin. “About that.”

Ino cut him off, joy welling in her voice. “No no. Let me guess, cause what I see is a Walk of Shame.”

Choji groaned. “You know I hate that. Besides, she was a nice girl.”

Neji rolled his eyes and handed him the Begone Hangover drink. The auburn haired shinobi took it with a nod and a thank you. “Look,” he started, “She was nice. Was impressed by how much I could drink. We talked, hung out. Bar hopped together a bit then wound up at her hotel. And we had fun. Passed out, both of us. I woke up first and left.”

Ino huffed, “Did you at least leave a note?”

“Course I did!” he said, highly offended. “If she wants to hang out during the festival I wrote where she could find me. And, well,” here he looked away, out of the windows to see the beach. “I left how she could get in touch with me back home.”

Silence. Then. Choji you absolute SAP!” Ino cackled.

Thankfully, Tenten yanked on her hair. The weapons master ignored the yelp. Instead, she said “Behave you menace.”

Choji took a rather large sip of the potion pretending to be a smoothie. “Don’t worry I can always get revenge.”

“How?” Ino asked, taking a hand through her hair to smooth it out.

The taller teen grinned at her. “Do you remember how you were right before you finally asked Tenten out?”

Blue eyes blinked then widened in horror. “You wouldn't!”

“I fucking would,” he said, knocking back the rest of the drink.

While the kiddos bickered, Gai and Genma were out on the patio of the hotel. The two of them were comparing notes about what they had found out about the Crown Prince. Genma nearly ripped his hair out at the information they had gathered. “Research,” the man muttered. “He’s head of the Research and Restoration Sector? What the hell is this place?”

Gai took a sip of his tea. “There isn’t mch here and yet this is one of the richest kingdoms and countries outside of the shinobi villages. This kingdom makes more revenue in tourism than Konoha does in six months in missions.”

Genma ran his hands down his face. “I know. If the Grand High Council,” he made a face, “finds out they’ll no doubt try and do something about it.”

The other Jounin raised an eyebrow. “Knowing how bad Danzo is chomping at the bit for war and the Civilian Council would see their military laughable given Fukashio doesn’t have any shinobi in their forces, I say they would be declaring war within days.”

“That we know of!” the assassin hissed, pointing a finger at the other. “Their king is the Biju without a Tail. I have no doubt his people know how exactly to fend off, hell even deal with shinobi with deadly force.”

Gair folded his arms, “On top of that we would be at an extreme tactical disadvantage trying to go to war with this kingdom.”

Genma let out a snort, “Yeah half of our forces don’t know how to fight on water, on top of dealing with the local fauna.”

The taijutsu master nodded. “From what the locals have said, these Leviathan creatures are quite dangerous. Some are harmless but others, well,” the man shifted in his seat. “I have learned that these creatures would even make my Eternal Rival pause.”

That made Genma goran and flop back in his chair. “Please don’t remind me of Kakashi. That man would turn on the council in a second if he learned they ever ordered war against this place. Hell he would murder them all if they ordered a hit on the Fukashio Royal Family.”

“Good Genma, my Eternal Rival would go rouge the minute he discovered Naruto-kun,” Gai said with a shake of his head.

The two fell silent for a few minutes then Gai spoke. “We have to tell him.”

“Oh yeah sure,” Genma snarked, “Let’s te;; the nearly feral man that the kid he has fought the entire Konoha government and the world for is living his best life away from him. Also, probably has no idea who his birth father is.”

Gai let out a sigh. “We have to tell him or it’ll be worse.”

“How could it be worse?” Genma slapped a hand onto the table. “Somehow, Naruto was either kidnapped or smuggled out of the village while Kakashi was away. The council, in their grand fucking wisdom, did not pull him back to help search. Instead, the boy, the last living tie to his beloved Minato-sensei has been missing for six goddamn months and the only lead he has was Danzo was seen visiting the orphanage Naruto was placed in. Thus,” Genma pointed at his friend, “The only logical thing that connects is that Danzo has him and has been lying about it. So, by the Hokage and Council agreeing with said war monger, it means a betrayal the two of us never nor will ever understand. Hell it nearly killed him and drove him all but insane!”

Gai leaned back, folding his arms over his chest and said, “We would be killed by my Eternal Rival if he learned that we did not tell him and he found out on his own.”

That took the wind out of Genma’s sails. “Hell you’re right. He would skin us alive and rip our nerves out just to start.”

“So we have to tell him but how?” Gai asked, reaching for his teacup.

“Tell who what?”

“FUCK!” Genma flung himself away from the new voice and Gai automatically threw his tea at them. Thankfully, Naruto dodged. Genma put a hand on his chest. “Goddamn please don’t do that!”

Naruto laughed, “Sorry sorry. Kisame hates it when I do it to him but it’s funny to watch people jump.”

The two shinobi grumbled for a moment before Gai went, “How can we help you Young Prince?”

Here the Crown Prince looked sheepish. :Well, I am a bit curious. I was raised with stories of shinobi and villages and couldn’t help but wonder about the Chuunin Exams.”

The jounin shared a look then suddenly, Genma sat up straight. “Actually, Your Majesty, Konoha is slated to host the next round of Exams.”

That made Naruto curious, a light glinting in his blue eyes. “Really?”

Genma nodded, “Oh yes. It’s actually supposed to start a week after we are scheduled to return.”

Blond eyebrows rose. “And can anyone show up?”

Genma subtly stepped on Gai’s foot to keep him quiet. “To watch the last part of the Exams yes. Granted that won’t happen for another month.”

“A month?!” Naruto exclaimed, looking mortified for some reason.

Genma dug his heel into Gai’s toes, “That’s to watch Your Majesty. However, those who participate can join as late as the day before it starts.”

The prince was silent for a moment. “What of the lands who aren’t a part of the Shinobi Pact? Can they participate?”

Gai spoke while Genma seemed to falter. “Sometimes every now and then, the Land of ron will send in a few of their swordsmen and samurai to test them against shinobi. Other countries will send in people to see which of the villages are growing amongst their ranks.”

Naruto hopped up to sit on the railing. “Huh. Interesting. Oh!” he rocked forward. “That reminds me! Kisame approved!”

Genma eyed him warily. “Of?”

“Of us having a treaty of course.” The young man said with a shrug.

Gai internally sighed while Genma paled. “Oh that’s grand Young Prince!”

Naruto smiled and it reminded Genma of Kushina about to verbally rip into someone’s hide. “Yep! I just have to take it to your Hokage.”

There it was. Genma wanted to scream to the heavens. Gai sputtered beside him. “Wait, what?”

The blond began to swing his legs. “It’s Fukashio policy. Whenever we make a treaty of trade or peace with a new ally, as a token of good faith, the Crown Heir,” he pointed at himself, “aka me brings a copy of the treaty to be signed and sealed in blood.”

“I see,” Genma said slowly as horror began to creep down his spine.

“Yep,” the prince chirped, waving at a gaggle children running by. “Been doing it for a few years now.”

“It is most impressive Your Majesty. Especially at a young age,” the tallest one of the table said.

Naruto chuckled. “Good way to learn diplomacy on the job.”

“Indeed,” the other jounin said, “Did you wish to return with us for Hokage-sama to sign the treaty and to view soe of the Chuunin process?”

Blue eyes lit up. “Oh! I didn’t even think of that! Genma-san you are a genius!”

He hopped off the railing, waved at them and then vanished into the streets. No doubt off to tell his king the good news.

Gair looked at his long time friend. “Genma?”

The other man looked distrubed. “Gai, we are so fucked.”

Black eyes blinked in confusion. “How so?”

“Because, now I gotta find out how to send word back to Hokage-sama that we are bringing royalty back home without accidentally slipping that it’s Naruto!”

Gai stared at him and before he opened his mouth to respond, a crash made them jump. They looked and inside the hotel lobby were their students causing mayhem. A sigh left Gai, “Perhaps we can discuss this later. And Hokage-sama was worried about us being chaos bringers.”

Genma winced as the hotel manager arrived. “Agreed.”

As they went inside to play damage control, Genma paused and remembered that the jounin had placed a seal down to make sure no one overheard them. So how in the hell did Naruto hear them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo that happened?


End file.
